Aqours' Bizarre Adventure: Ocean Sun
by tyiinva
Summary: Chika Takami, in her entire life, had never experienced desire. Nothing interested her; sports, games, studies, etc. That was until the fateful day when Chika stumbled upon a performance by a certain school idol group that inspired her to "shine." This story is not about happiness, nor is it about sadness. This story is about proving others wrong... With invisible punching ghosts.
1. Chika Takami Wants to Shine! Part 1

**A/N: Hey guys! Welp… I'm making something quite bizarre. I feel like I've seen too many LL x JoJo memes and now its affecting me. Alright, I got a few things to say real quick before we dive in. First, if a stand idea or OC seems like someone else's or like a stand or character in Jojo, it is coincidental. The second is that, this is based in the LL universe and no Jojo characters are going to appear in it, although Jojo concepts and tendencies like stands and random fabulous posing (I'll try and make them as descriptive as possible) will be present. The third is that this is centered around Aqours and that it might get a bit brutal (though I'll try not to write out too many details ) and** **μ's** **won't really be present much. The fourth is that I will be exaggerating various character traits of the characters to the point where they might seem like completely different people, but I promise that by the end they'll start "acting" like themselves. The fifth is that this fanfic will not have a constant release date for each chapter. I'm still recovering from a two year writer's block and working on chapters on a weekly schedule is not possible for me. So chapter releases will be erratic, I could update in three day or in three months so don't expect them to be fixed xD. So yeah. Anyway, I'mma just start now xD.**

* * *

 _Chapter 1: Chika Takami Wants to Shine! Part 1_

Numazu; the city of fish and the sea. It is an industrial city and a regional financial center with its port known as a major center of the Shizuoka prefecture's fishery industry. Located at the northern end of the Izu Peninsula, it is a city inside within Shizuoka prefecture in the Chūbu region known for the Senbonhama seaside, being a gateway to Mt. Fuji, it's hot springs, the Numazu Imperial Villa Memorial Park, Toda, and it's two aquariums: Mito Sea Paradise and Awashima Marine Park. Numazu currently has a population of 191,600 and a land area of 186.96 km^2. While the city of Numazu may be where most of the story takes place, it is not where the story begins.

The story begins in Tokyo, Japan with an orange haired girl chasing a runaway flyer. This girl's name was Chika Takami. Chika had medium length, orange hair that barely touched her shoulders, and crimson red eyes. Beside her left ear was a braid that was tied with a yellow bow. On the top of her head was a small ahoge that no matter what she did, would not go away. Clipped on the right side of her hair was a small, green, clover-shaped hair clip. Chika was also 157 cm tall. She wore a white uniform shirt and a gray skirt with two white lines lining near the bottom edge. Attached to the shirt was a gray neckerchief with a red necktie tied with it. She also wore black knee-length stockings and a pair of black penny loafers. This was her school uniform that was issued by her all-girls school Uranohoshi Girls' high school.

By the time the wind had stopped blowing the runaway flyer, it and the girl chasing it stopped in front of a large building, the Akiba Dome, that had a giant, digital billboard attached to the front of it. After picking up the flyer, Chika turned to leave but not without catching a glimpse of what was showing on the large billboard. On it, something was shining brilliantly. As if forced to look back by an unseeable force, Chika turned back around and stared right at the billboard.

The second her eyes landed on the giant billboard, her fate had been laid out in front of her. There, shining in an unimaginable glory, was a nine person group; performing a song through dance and voice. The nine girls each looked different yet normal and generic; people Chika would see on the street and not spare a second thought about, but something about them compelled Chika. Almost as if they were glowing lights and Chika was a bug mesmerized by them.

All of her life Chika was a person who lacked desire. She never had a desire to try new things and for the things she had already tried, seemed lackluster. Swimming to her was about lying in the water hoping to drown. Art was about painting colors over each other and counting how many strokes until they turned brown. Writing was about writing out random assortment of letters then looking up if they were actually words. Studying was about memorizing something, putting it on a test, then sleeping it out of her memory. Romance, wealth, hobbies, friends, occupations, all of these things that most people have a desire, she had none. They all seemed like a waste of time.

She did enjoy things and did have her own personal tastes and preferences but never felt a strong desire for those she had a positive preference for. Because of her lack of desire, she never had any long-lasting friends and was cast off as a weird "faker" whom nobody could trust and build a "meaningful" relationship with, not even her family. Being alone for most of her life, she had lots of time to herself. She usually spent this time loitering about. What she did was random and most times was just her having short bursts of thought about random things. At some point, you could say she became antisocial. After all, it was better to not say anything when people don't even care.

These random things she would stumble upon and do led to her trying out many different things. Sports, art, acting, cooking, collecting, writing, socializing, all of them, left her bored and uninterested. She would never stay and do one thing and "devote" to them. It was as if she herself didn't have a desire to care.

Chika, of course, realized how abnormal her lack of desire was. She knew that it was a flaw that would lead down into a rabbit hole of ruin. Maybe it was because of this thought of ruin that she had perhaps gained a bit of desire or rather, realized she did have desire the entire time, even if it was small. Maybe she did care. Why else would she go out of her way to try out different things? Maybe her desire was to find something that she would be willing to "devote" her time and energy to achieving.

On that billboard that glistened with radiance, Chika felt a small nagging. Maybe it was nothing. Something comparable to a feeling of hunger after not eating for a day. A moment had passed and then another, the nagging was growing stronger. No, it was not nothing. The nagging had grew into a feeling that tugged at Chika and told her to do something about it, to satisfy it. This was the first time she had ever experienced such an intense feeling, more intense than her desire for something to do in her life.

As the nine girls on screen continued to perform, their shine grew. Everything about each of them, the colors of their dresses, the echoes of their voices, the glistening of their sweat, their genuine expressions of happiness and energy, everything was shining. In the crowd, you could see a sea of little rectangles dancing as if motivated by the nine girls.

As Chika continued to view the performance, the intense feeling had lit a fire in her. For the first time in her life, she wanted something "conventional." For the first time in her life, she wanted to try something. For the first time in her life, she wanted to "devote" to something. For the first time in her life, she wanted to achieve something.

As the performance ended, she had realized what she felt such a strong desire for. She wanted to shine. She wanted to shine just as bright- No. She wanted to shine **brighter** than those nine girls. And she was willing to do anything to achieve that shine.

* * *

That night, holed up in her room, Chika looked up and researched the group that had introduced her to her desire. Remembering the name that appeared after the performance she had seen earlier that day, she typed it into the search engine. Her heart pounded with curiosity and an unexplainable anxiety.

"U's…" she mumbled to herself as she typed it out. It was quite a weird name. It was only two letters and an apostrophe, but Chika decided it was at least somewhat unique and left it at that. Billions of results loaded before Chika; and through dozens of links and dozens of searches, her world had intertwined with the worlds of Love Live and idols.

As Chika waited for all of the songs she downloaded to finish, Chika stumbled upon a link to a news article. Chika would have normally passed the article but the headline caught her eye: "Police shuts down Love Live competition in hopes to end School Idol Murders." What was this? What Chika found most odd about the article was not the murders but the Love Live competition being shut down. Earlier in Chika's search, she stumbled upon the Love Live official website which had an announcement about how the Love Live competition was about to start in the summer of the current year. How could something that was shut down still be going on? Curious, Chika clicked the link.

The site loaded and Chika immediately located the date the article was made; three years ago, two years after μ's officially disbanded. Chika skimmed through the article picking out key phrases and sentences. "... one year since police discovered the first victim of the school idol murders… a reported forty-one people found dead since then all over Japan, all high school girls from the ages of 15-18 with the exception of a few males who had been identified as major school idol fans… Last week police had appealed to have Love Live shut down in hopes that if school idols as a trend stopped, the murders would too… Two days ago on October thirteenth, Love Live sent an official announcement on the home page of their website that they will be shutting down... "

This was news to Chika. She had never heard of these "School Idol Murders" before. Though it wasn't that much a surprise to Chika as she had lived as a modern-day hermit her entire life. No one wanted to talk to her after all and she didn't want to talk to anyone either. The murders did surprise her though. Why did they occur? Why were all of the victims chosen for the murders connected to school idols? Perhaps it was some sick person's fetish? Maybe they were all coincidental? Other than the mystery of the murder victims being related to school idols, Chika initial question of how Love Live was still operating was left unanswered.

As Chika pondered about the article, she noticed her downloads were finished. Eager to put them on her phone, Chika decided that since the article was made three years ago, the police had captured the murderer or murderers and permitted Love Live to continue and left it at that. Chika would continue to delve into the world of school idols until she fell asleep against her will.

* * *

Chika had woke up with beams of light stabbing her unprepared eyes and loud idol music blasting her sore ears. Squinting and removing the earphones from her ears, she got up with a slight ache from grogginess. It probably wasn't a good idea for her to spend the entire night downloading everything μ's. She looked at her alarm clock to find she had forgot to set the alarm and that she was ten minutes past the time she was supposed to wake up. Any other person would probably freak out and rush through morning routines, but Chika laid back down on her bed wishing she was a beetle hiding underground with the freedom of being able to sleep whenever it wants.

Catching herself right before she slipped back into sleep, she lifted her body, and like a rag doll given consciousness and movement, hobbled out of bed. With uneven eyes, Chika went about freshening up. As she became more presentable, she became more aware of her surroundings. Waking up, she remembered about her desire to shine. The feeling was not as magical as it was the day prior. She still felt motivated enough to pursue it but it was more "meh" to her now. Perhaps she was too tired to be excited and lively like the nine girls. The growing migraine behind her left eye didn't help much either.

After freshening up and getting ready school, she headed to the living room of her home. On her way there, she glanced into the small crack provided by the slightly opened door leading into a room which had a restaurant-y kitchen feel to it and saw her dad there cooking and working. This was rare. Usually the door to the kitchen would be closed like a finishing touch to an insane asylum. The only times when the door was open was when food ordered by guests of her family ryokan was finished and needed to be delivered. The few times Chika was able to peek inside, she would only see her father's back. She had never seen her dad's face before, even when he was facing in her direction. It was always covered up by some sort of shadow. Chika never really questioned it or cared to know why her father had this strange phenomenon hanging over him, but then again, maybe it was something that happened to boys when they become fathers. For all Chika knew, that could actually be true. After all, she never saw anyone else's father. But then why do boys gain a shadow over their face when they become dads? Chika paused. Did she just question it? It was almost like she wanted to know despite supposedly not caring.

Before Chika could pursue it any further, the voice of her older sister, Mito, called out to her. "You know… At this rate, you might as well become a NEET." Chika looked at her sister in response. Mito sighed at the silence and walked briskly over and tugged at her arm to move. "You can eat some bread on the RUN to school. Oh and you better run too. School starts in fifteen minutes and unless you want to make up for repeated tardiness, which is not fun, I would run."

After being dragged into the living room and having two slices of bread stuffed into her mouth, she was shoved out with the twentieth reminder to run from her sister. Chika lazily chewed the bread in her mouth as she glanced back at her family ryokan before walking down the road. She didn't finish her third step before she was hit with something from the back of her head and her twenty-first reminder to "RUN!"

Chika squinted her eyes from her increased migraine and looked back at the irritated expression of her sister. Chika glanced down on the floor of what had been thrown at her to find a single tangerine. She picked it up with reluctance and looked at her sister. "Shima told me to give it to you." In the background, Chika's other older sister waved at her.

Chika's left eye twitched. She didn't like tangerines. Despite her dislike for tangerines, she turned around with the tangerine in hand. She didn't want to bother with telling them that. After all, Mito would probably just tell her to eat it anyway and that its good for her. Despite the banshee screeching at her to run, Chika walked to school. Along the way, she threw the tangerine into a trash can.

* * *

Along the way to school, whilst Chika was listening to music, she thought about what she should do to attain the shine that μ's had. Well from her research, most school idols seem to be in groups or at the very least, pairs. Chika groaned. She actually had to socialize and work with others. In hindsight, it wasn't that bad. Despite Chika being "antisocial" and not wanting to speak much, she wouldn't have that much problem with actually socializing. She wasn't nervous around people per say. Even so, it was a pain. What if those people decide they don't really care or think she's weird and just leave? What if no one joins? What if she didn't exist? What if the reason why people seem to not care about her was actually just because she didn't exist? In fact, what does it even mean to exist? Does it mean to shine? Speaking of which, those μ's people shone, but what does that really mean? Maybe this entire time, those people were just dancing on a really shiny stage illuminated by god knows how many stage lights. And this entire time, Chika was just mistaken about them being "shiny." Maybe all Chika needed to do is be on a stage with lots of lights on her. To Chika, that was probably better than doing idol things with other people. In fact, Chika should abandon her dream of being an idol and just be a part of stage tech, where her true desire- In that instant, Chika was headbutted in the back of her head.

The headbutt wasn't exactly hard nor was it painful but the surprise of being struck randomly made Chika yelp and jump like she was an amateur huntsman about to hunt his first rabbit that suddenly just jumped on his hand. In the middle of the jump, she knocked her earphones out of her ears and onto the floor. When Chika landed and turned to see who or what had struck her, she found a gray haired girl trying her hardest to not fall from the awkward position she and her bike were in.

Chika stared at the girl as her face slowly contorted to a more violent strain. The surprise of being struck vanished when Chika had seen the scene and her first instinct was to start massaging near her left eye where the migraine had grown stronger. Just when it started to die down too thanks to Chika's peaceful walk. Chika ran the girl's order of events in her head as she hypothesized what they were. The girl was probably riding her bike, decided that it was a good idea to shout at Chika who was listening to loud idol music to move instead of move herself, saw that Chika wasn't moving, and braked right before impact which caused the girl to jut forward. To Chika, this person deserved to at least fall after a desperate attempt to not. Chika clicked her tongue as she picked her earphones off the dirty ground.

Still massaging her left eye, she watched as the person continued to struggle. At some point, the person noticed Chika looking at her and breathed out "Help. I need help. Please." The girl put on an embarrassed and friendly smile. This made Chika consider helping her. Helping her to the ground with her foot. Chika decided against it though as the girl somehow inched her way to a more stable position. So much for asking for help. Disappointed, Chika turned and started walking away. She didn't bother sticking around any longer, after all, there was no point to it.

Chika's migraine didn't get any better but she hoped it would on her way to school. "Um, are you ok?" Chika's migraine got worse when those words registered in her brain. Maybe she should have taken Mito's advice and ran to school. Chika turned to look at the girl whose blue eyes stared at Chika intently. In response to the person's question, Chika flashed a small semi-smile and nodded.

"Oh no. You're mad aren't you?" The girl averted her eyes. Chika wanted to leave. "Mmmm, hey that's a Uranohoshi uniform right? Are you late too? As an apology, I can let you ride on my bike there."

Being the antisocial person that was totally capable of being social, Chika internally panicked and frantically shook her head no. Apparently when you stop interacting with people, you forget how to. With the shake of her head, Chika turned and started walking away. "Ah wait!" Chika glanced behind her as the girl started jogging up to Chika with her bike. Being the obviously rational person Chika is at judging what to do in situations that might harm her, Chika decided to start running away. Apparently when you are tired and have a migraine, running becomes a task.

To say the girl caught up to Chika in a moment is an understatement. Even with the handicap of running with the bike, Chika was like a slug. "Hey, sorry to keep bothering you but I just realized, aren't you the person that helped me pass out those flyers yesterday?"

Chika stopped running. No wonder this girl is so persistent. She's the same girl who asked her to pass out of the flyers randomly. "I didn't get to say it yesterday since you left so quick but thanks for help. No one wanted to help me and instead kept saying I should just leave it to some random lonely girl. So I actually really appreciate it."

Yesterday, randomly at the end of the school day, a girl approached Chika with a huge stack of flyers asking her to help her out. Chika declined but the girl kept bugging her. It had probably been a solid thirty minutes before Chika managed to escape but then one of the teachers stopped her and asked her to help the girl out. Chika of course declined that as well but then the teacher replied with "That was a rhetorical question Takami." To say the girl was happy that Chika "relented" was as much of an understatement as the girl being just a "faster runner" than her. That day, Chika contemplated just throwing her share of the flyers in the trash and then going home, but for some reason, Chika decided to go through the effort of passing them out. Though Chika was only able to "pass out" the flyers by slapping them into people's faces then jogging away.

"Oh I should introduce myself. I'm You Watanabe, second year. Someday I want to become the captain of a ferry like my dad. Mmm, the reason I want to is probably because of how my dad gets to say "Yousoro!" all the time." The girl gave a small salute with her introduction. Chika did not like where this was going. It was like the girl was trying to force Chika into being her friend like when fish get caught by fishermen and they grapple the fish and whisper to them, "You and me are gonna be the best of friends." In fact, that was probably what she was actually trying to do. "What's your name?" Scratch that, definitely trying to do.

Chika pressed her lips together and stared at You. Should she speak? Wait, what type of question is that? Speaking isn't that much of a chore and in this situation, there is no possible, conceivable way she could screw up. Plus the girl seems like she cares so-

"I'm sorry."

Eh.

"I should have realized. You're mute right?"

Chika stopped walking as her migraine suddenly flared. Who comes to those type of conclusions this early? As Chika massaged near her left eye, You asked about it. Chika stopped massaging it the second she asked and tried to escape again by walking ahead of her. You was by her side once again before Chika could even blink. Chika expected the girl to bug her about her eye more and the mute thing but instead pulled out her phone.

"Oh crap! I'm actually gonna be really late. Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have gone for an extra lap up the mountain this morning!" Chika's mind was stuck on the fact she runs up a mountain in the mornings. Wait, but if she runs, why does she just have a bike with her? "Hey hop on." Chika looked up at her to see that she was about ready to start pedaling. "Don't worry about me. I can still go really, really fast even with two people."

Chika started to shake her head no but upon seeing You start to open her mouth again, Chika relented. At this point, it's better to let You carry them to school in less time than having to put up with You trying to talk to her while walking. Chika did not know what type of performance enhancing drugs You was on, but they had arrived at the school a full minute before class started.

Chika sighed to herself when You entered into the same classroom as Chika. Chika never noticed before but apparently they were in the same class. When they entered the classroom, You glanced back at Chika and with a "It's nice to meet you." headed toward her seat. Despite how annoying You was, to Chika, she seemed like a good person. Not once did it seem like You was judging her and, as much as she didn't want to admit it, Chika appreciated You's tenacity.

Chika didn't know why she did it. Maybe it was because You didn't judge her. Maybe it was because Chika felt a bit guilty. Maybe it was because of fate. Maybe it was because You proved Chika exists. But as You turned to walk toward her desk, Chika spoke her first words for the day. "Chika Takami."

You turned her head back in response and after a moment, smiled. "It's nice to meet you Chika Takami." After that, she sat down at her desk.

Chika pressed her lips together and looked down at the floor as she walked toward her own desk. The bell rang as Chika sat down and a minute later, the day's lecture began. As Chika sat there, doodling in her notebook, a thought came to her. You never scolded her for not moving out of the way. Despite herself, Chika smiled as she doodled idol things. Her migraine had also gotten better.

* * *

Chika didn't notice the bell ringing as she doodled microphones on a piece of notebook paper. Chika did notice, however, that someone pulled up a chair in front of her desk and sat down with a lunch box. Chika could feel her migraine coming back but it vanished when Chika saw who it was.

"Ohaiyousoro!" You greeted with a salute. Chika pressed her lips together and stared in greeting. "And here I thought you were gonna start talking more…" You sank her head to the desk dramatically.

Chika did not know whether she should take offense. "Anyway, it's lunch!" Chika showed no reaction as You clapped and opened her lunch box. Without mercy, the food was devoured before Chika's eyes. It was then that it occured to Chika that her sister forgot to give make her lunch. Gloom overtook Chika's entire being as she watched You happily consume the pieces of precious nourishment.

You stopped her pillage when she noticed that Chika was watching her with dying hope. "Um, did you perhaps forget your lunch?" Chika nodded. You chuckled at the response and looked down at her own lunch to see what was left. "If you want, you can have the rest of mine." Chika's entire demeanor brightened as she reached for the lunch box with wriggling fingers. You held her hands up and leaned back against her chair as Chika creepily stole the lunch box before commencing Armageddon.

You watched as Chika destroyed her lunch box with a smile. "You're gonna choke if you eat that fast." Chika seemed to ignore You but was chewing the food more before swallowing. When Chika finished the lunch, she clapped her hands together and did a small bow before You. You took the lunch box and was going to put it away until she noticed that the two tangerines packed within were left uneaten. "Hey do you want these?" Chika glanced at You before glancing at the tangerines and shook her head.

"Eh? Why not?" Chika shrugged. "Did you save them for me?" Chika paused before nodding. It wasn't the actual reason why but if it will stop You's questioning, it was the actual reason now. "Mmm, thanks for the consideration but you can have them. I don't want you to die from deprivation of food during class."

Chika stared at You as she smiled sweetly. It was like You could read Chika's mind but decided to feign ignorance to mess with her. Chika raised her hands and shook her head with a half-smile. "It's fine. I had big breakfast." Chika leaned back and continued to shake her head. You put the lunch box down and put on a pout. "Wait. Do you not like tangerines?"

Chika paused before pressing her lips together and nodding. "Eh?" Chika stared at You who had her mouth slightly open. "What? How could you not like tangerines? They are like the greatest thing ever!"

Chika leaned back further as You bent over the desk to close the distance between the two of them. Too close. She's too close. Why is she so close? Chika did not know. Was this the work of the tangerines? You stayed where she was as Chika leaned on the verge of tipping over her chair. "You're eating at least one of these." Chika shook her head in refusal. You inched forward even more causing Chika to tip her chair back even more. Now it was approaching the area of "falling like an idiot." However You continued to inch forward and it was here that Chika relented by nodding her head furiously. You smirked and leaned back, allowing Chika her space.

"Here." You held a tangerine out to Chika. Chika scowled as she accepted the lone tangerine. It was like Chika was about to do something she shouldn't like robbing a bank in broad daylight. Chika didn't understand You's devotion to the tangerines. They were gross, and they make your teeth and tongue hurt. Plus the stench of the fruit doesn't come off your hands even if you wash them for an hour.

Chika glanced up at You who was watching intently. It seemed Chika had no choice. Chika slowly placed her thumbs on the tangerine and was slowly pushing in when, as if compelled by an invisible force, Chika looked toward the classroom entrance. Just as Chika did, a girl with long, red hair entered. There was nothing special about the girl but she was the perfect target for Chika's distraction plan. Chika would continue to stare at the girl until You noticed and asked if she was curious about her. Chika nodded and as You talked about the scarce info she had about the girl, Chika stealthily lowered her hand with the tangerine and rolled it on the floor away from her.

"... She came in this morning as a transfer student. I think she's from Tokyo. Oh and her name's Riko Sakurauchi." You turned her head to look at Chika to see if she was paying attention. Chika smiled and nodded. "Anyway, the tangerine." Chika opened her mouth and showed her empty hands before pointing at her mouth. You simply stared at Chika who was cocking her eyebrows as she pointed at her mouth. Suddenly You stood and walked toward the direction Chika threw the tangerine and picked it up. You slowly turned to look at Chika with tangerine in hand. Chika lowered her head as a cold sweat made its way from the top of her temple down her cheek.

Chika could feel the menacing aura radiating from You as she approached. At this rate, You might shove it down Chika's throat, skin and all. As Chika felt You's presence inches away, Chika closed her eyes as a final prayer of how she was done in via betrayal. Then, as if fate had intervened, the bell rung signifying the end of lunch and the resumption of class. Chika's head shot up from her desk as she realized her newfound safety. You clicked her tongue. "Saved by the bell."

Chika watched as You put the tangerine in the lunch box and sealed it with a plastic lid before leaving for her desk. Chika breathed a sigh of relief having survived her first major ordeal of life. As the teacher entered and everyone settled for the lecture of the day, Chika felt a stare on her. Chika glanced toward the general direction and her eyes met the gaze of the red-haired girl. A moment passed before the girl's eyes shifted toward other students. Chika assumed that since she was a transfer, she was just observing how students acted in her new school. Giving it no further thought, Chika took out a new piece of notebook paper and started to doodle.

* * *

After school, Chika was the first one out of the classroom. Throughout the school day, Chika had figured that since school idols usually go in groups, she would try and get people to join her. It was perfect. Chika had created a little sign using a pen and with a white sheet of paper attached to it that said "Be a school idol! Join the club!" Yes, Chika had decided that making the group a club would be the easiest way to attain the attention of curious students as well as organize them properly. Plus clubs get their own room which is great for practice sessions. It was totally not because the number one school idol group μ's was also a club. The sign itself was also made to advertise the club for Chika as well. After all if Chika spoke, people would probably not want to join the club as much but if it was a sign advertising it, people might be interested. The sign itself was also the pinnacle of persuasion. Who wouldn't be interested when seeing this masterpiece?

As students started flooding out into the halls, Chika held her glorious sign for all to see with full confidence. In fact, the sign made Chika so confident that she started smiling at people and eyebrowing toward the sign. As Chika made her way through the school, people stopped to stare at the sign. Some people stared at the sign in mild confusion while others laughed at it. The very few people that seemed interested due to the sign would go to approach Chika but as they approached, they would suddenly stop and then run away. This confused Chika. Maybe they were nervous about it and then bailed last second. Yeah, that was probably it.

As Chika exited the school, sign held high, a group of girls saw it and then burst out laughing. Chika glared at them as she internally called them fools for not appreciating the masterpiece that was her sign. At that moment, a strong gust of wind blew through causing Chika to hug her sign to prevent it from flying away. When the wind blew by, Chika stopped shielding her sign and as she returned the sign back to the air, she saw them. Two girls, one with long golden hair and another with red. Chika did not know why, but she felt the urge to approach them. Without thinking, she marched over to them with a smile plastered on her face. The pair noticed her as she approached. The red haired one immediately freaked out and hid behind the golden haired girl. Goldie glanced at her friend before standing her ground before Chika.

When Chika was within arm's distance, before any of the two girls could say a word, she shoved the sign in front of them. The redhead screeched at the sudden movement. "H-H-Hanamaru! What is she doing? A-Are you ok?"

The goldie, Hanamaru, jerked back when Chika shoved the sign in their direction. "I don't know Ruby. She has this like makeshift fan thing, zura. I-I've never seen anything as horrifying before, not even in books, zura."

"Hanamaru, we should run! She might be a predator. Her facial expression is scary." Chika was taken aback. Did the redhead just say her facial expression was scary? That can't be, she's smiling. Confidently! Who thinks a confident smile is scary? Granted, this was the first time Chika wore a confident smile before but…

"S-Stay back, zura!" Hanamaru backed up as she shouted. "I'm not afraid of a creep like you!" There was no way. They actually thought Chika was a creep. All of the confidence built up inside Chika dispersed as fast as her "smile." Chika let go of the sign as her shoulders slumped to it's usually position. What was she getting all confident for? Some stupid sign with stupid crude drawings on it. How was that gonna recruit anybody? It was probably as weird as she was: devoid of care and desire.

Hanamaru furrowed her eyebrows when she saw Chika take on the posture of someone without drive. It was almost enough to make her relax and even ask what was wrong. Almost. If only Chika didn't decide to start stomping on the sign until it was buried in the dirt. To see her suddenly do that without mercy was enough to make Hanamaru start running while dragging Ruby along. Chika noticed them take off and muttered an "Ah" while reaching a hand out to them. As they got further away from her, Chika could feel her motivation leave her as well. Being an idol is hard.

In that same instant, from the tree next to Chika, a dark blue haired girl fell out of it. She landed on her feet hard but despite that, she still stood. Chika only saw the fall from her peripherals, but she could feel the pain in her legs. The tree girl stood there as if her body didn't know whether it wanted to cry or pass out. Instead, the girl noticed Chika staring at her and gasped before shouting out something intelligible except the words "fallen angel" and "Yoshiko" and "Yohane." Then she ran away… or at least tried to until she fell on her face into a pile of mud. Chika decided then that maybe her life wasn't that bad.

"Ohaiyousoro!" Chika turned to face the voice. There stood You saluting with a smile. In reaction, Chika pressed her lips together and timidly saluted back. You frowned a bit. "You're supposed to say "Ohaiyousoro" back. Ok at least "Yousoro." Chika stared with pressed lips in response.

"You really don't talk much huh? Mmm, well that's fine. There's probably a reason why you don't. Anyway, what're you doing? I saw you rush out of the classroom with some object with a scowl." Chika averted her eyes in embarrassment. Apparently her sign wasn't even a sign and her smile was a scowl. You cocked her head to the side to match where Chika's gaze was going and landed on the sign which was half-buried in dirt. "What's with the burial?"

Chika shrugged in hopes that perhaps You can read minds and know that that was her first method of recruiting members for her school idol club. You shook her head with a clear expression of confusion and doubt. It was here Chika learned that communication was hard without speaking.

"Alright then. How about I just dig it out?" You bent down near the sign and started digging it up before Chika belly flopped onto the sign. You jerked back in response to the sudden movement. Chika did not want You to see her failure. "Um... Are you ok?" Chika turned red as she realized what she had just done. It was then that it occurred to Chika it was better to let her see the sign as opposed to hiding it via a belly flop. With pressed lips, Chika slowly rolled off the sign. "Thanks… I guess…" Chika's migraine started to hurt again.

Chika laid on the ground as You recovered the sign which had broken back into paper and pen. You viewed the pen briefly before looking at the paper. "Oh" was the only thing spoken in response. Chika had no idea what to think of the response. Does she think it was weird that Chika wanted to start a school idol club? What would happen if she did? Maybe You will start ignoring her. Maybe You will hate her. Maybe You will-

"Oh I've heard of school idols. They're like high school students who sing and dance like idols right? There are even competitions too I think. I didn't know you were interested in them. Mmm, but why a club?" You didn't think it was weird. Huzzah! Victory! Wait, she asked a question.

Before Chika could think about it further, she blurted out "Cause U's started out as a club."

"U's? Who's that?" Chika wanted to die. Not only did Chika reveal the wrong reason but she also spoke. Chika squinted as her migraine grew. "I guess I can just look them up later. Anyway, a club is a good idea. It has only been a few weeks since school started so some first years might still be looking for a club to join."

"Eh." Chika looked up at You who was looking at her over the sheet of paper. Chika's migraine started to fade. She understood. She actually understood. What is she? An angel?

"Oh yeah this was a sign right? I guess it's a good improvisation for you not speaking a lot. The sign itself is pretty cute too. I like the little microphones and dresses." You's an angel, a complete and utter angel. It was the only explanation. It all made sense now; why You was so persistent in talking to Chika, why she didn't judge her, why she generously offered her lunch to the dying Chika during lunch, or how she was intelligent enough to understand her works of art. "Earlier I saw you approach some first years. Was it because you wanted to recruit them? They were cute enough to be idols."

What a time it was to be alive! First Chika found something she wanted to do and now she has an angel watching over her, figuratively and literally. "Oh but…" Chika's migraine blew up in intensity. Mass criticism incoming! She's going to say how the message should be more rounded and how I should've bought a real sign or how Chika can't do it because she can barely speak or how Chika was super unathletic or-

"Did you ask the student council president if you could make the club?" Still an angel! Though… Chika completely forgot about having approval. Chika locked eyes with You with pressed lips. "I guess not huh." You breathed out a chuckle. "It's probably a good idea to see if they'll let you start one first before you start recruiting."

Chika nodded in reluctant agreement. What was she gonna do? Chika had only seen the student council president a few times in the halls or during assemblies and each time, she had this aura about her that intimidated everyone around her including Chika. Chika doubted that such an intense person would accept communication through notes especially when talking about establishing a school idol club. Talking was out of the question, the president would probably decline her faster than if Chika tried notes considering how other people reacted. Chika didn't know sign language and she doubted the president did too. What was she gonna do?

As Chika filled with dread, her angel stepped in. "I don't have anything to do right now and since you don't like to talk much, I can help you ask for permission."

Chika didn't realize what she had done until after she was on her feet and grasping You's hands for dear life. Chika felt saved by the holy entity in front of her. You jumped slightly at the sudden movement but smiled when she noticed Chika's eyes sparkling. "Ok let's go before the president leaves. Oh, and here's your pen and sign paper." You handed Chika the items as they turned toward the school. Chika quickly let go of You's hands before timidly taking the items as she turned red. Chika was doing things that made her want to die. Though, as the pair walked toward the student council president's room, Chika's migraine disappeared.

"Oh yeah. About those tangerines…" Chika's migraine returned full force as she walked ahead of You.

* * *

Maybe it was fate that brought Chika and You together. After all, it was weird that Chika randomly met someone who didn't judge her for being silent especially the day right after Chika had discovered what she had wanted to do. If Chika recalled correctly, she was also on the verge of convincing herself to give up her dream and probably would have if You hadn't randomly appeared on her bike behind her. Chika looked at You. It was the first time Chika was able to silently observe her. Even in class, Chika was too absorbed in not falling asleep and doodling. You had an aura to her that subtly suggested confidence and positivity. The type of aura you would see from someone who knew what they wanted to do and who they were. It really was weird. Why would someone like that continue to associate with someone like Chika who until the day before had no clear ambition and decided it was better not to talk?

"I think we take a right." You pointed to the right of the small intersection. Chika followed as You turned. You glanced back behind her at Chika. "So why do you want to be a school idol?"

Chika opened her mouth to reply but stopped herself. That was close. She stared at You who made a small mouth gesture. Did she just click her tongue? Wait. Was she continuously asking Chika questions not because she kept forgetting Chika doesn't like to speak but to subtly make her open up? What type of sorcery was this? Was You manipulating her? Well even if she was, it wasn't that big of a deal since it was done with good intentions but… What if she's actually a part of a group that's specifically targeting Chika? It would make sense, after all, why would someone like You associate with Chika? Plus You is supposedly an angel but looks so human. Nah, that's ridiculous. That's only fueling Chika's selfishness and pride. You probably wants to honestly be friends with Chika. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for Chika to let her. You does seem different from other people and if she wanted to judge Chika she already would have, but then again You doesn't know about Chika's lack of desire. Would You even care? If You is okay with being friends with someone who's awkward and doesn't like to talk, would she even care if Chika was a "faker?" Would she even care if Chika might "betray" her? You does seem to trust Chika and not think of her as anything less than others. Maybe Chika can trust her too. It occurred to Chika then that maybe the loneliness had caught up to her and made her desperate. Chika didn't care.

"I… um… Yesterday when I was helping you pass out flyers in Tokyo and I saw this school idol group called U's on one of those digital billboard screens." Chika muttered barely louder than a deep breath from an exhausted man. Chika looked at You for a reaction and saw that You had furrowed her brows in surprise, though she seemed to be trying to keep her face straight. Despite the shivers dancing on Chika's skin threatening her to stop before they make her stutter, Chika continued.

"They were dancing and singing pretty much like regular idols do and when I think about it… There really wasn't anything that special about them. Their singing was meh and the song was just some cheesy song about hopes and dreams and their dance was also really meh. The people themselves were al-also-" Chika wanted to die. She was actually doing well and then she stuttered. Chika cursed the shivers as she shot her eyes to the floor. She couldn't do it. It was impossible. You was definitely gonna laugh. Chika chuckled in her head. So much for "trusting" You.

"The people themselves were also what?" Chika met You's gaze who's facial expression was one of openness and concentration. She wasn't laughing. Chika slapped herself mentally before opening her mouth.

"They were also pretty generic... like the type of people you see on the street while out shopping on a Sunday."

"I see."

"A-Ah but…" Chika stopped. Was she going to say it? Was she about to entrust one of her deeper reasons for something to someone? Chika continued to stare at You for a couple of seconds. Her expression really was that of someone who was open. Despite that though, Chika wasn't sure. She felt scared. It wasn't even that deep a reason to a not so deep question but… Chika felt scared. It was unexplainable and irrational, but it drilled into Chika the more she asked herself if she should trust You. Chika pressed her lips together.

You turned her head away from Chika upon seeing her press her lips together. "You don't have to answer it if you don't want to. I guess I have been a bit pushy huh? Sorry. It's fine if you don't want to. I can kind of get why. People aren't predictable and no matter what you do, they don't see things your way. It doesn't help they seem to want to disprove everything that contradicts their opinions too. It's like people don't- can't change."

Chika stared at You's back as they walked. You was spot on. People are ugly; they only think about themselves. Anything that seems just a little out of place is weird and must be purged. In a way, it was like Chika could predict them. Every time Chika spoke about how something like basketball was terrible and boring, people assume she was some sort of freak who's blind to everything "righteous" in the world. Every time Chika spoke about how a famous book was mediocre, people thought she had bad tastes and needed to be put in a psychiatric hospital. Every time Chika spoke of her lack of desire, people label her as something else. A different race. A different species. A different life form. A different entity. Chika hated it. Why couldn't she do things differently? Why couldn't she like things differently? Why couldn't she dislike things differently? It was like Chika couldn't even explain herself to them. No matter how much she wanted to, they wouldn't listen and they wouldn't care.

An image flashed in Chika's mind then. One single picture. It was of the nine girls on the billboard, performing while the crowd was waving in sync. Shining despite how normal and insignificant they were. It wasn't the stage lights, it wasn't their colorful clothes, it wasn't even the sea of lightsticks in the crowd that made them shine. It was like their bodies were shining. No wait, it was like the entire stage, crowd included, was shining in a light that wasn't natural or artificial.

"It was like there was no negativity." It was the best way Chika could describe it. The light that engulfed the entire room that enticed even the girl with no desire. You didn't respond and kept walking. "Not from them, not from the crowd, not from anywhere in the world. There was no loss of will, sadness, anger, frustration. It was like there was no such thing as ugliness, discrimination, loss, suffering, weird, normal… That no matter what, everything was ok and will be ok."

Chika hadn't realized she had spoken her thoughts out loud until after her last sentence. Even then, Chika wasn't finished. One last thought was racing through her mind. "You don't get it." You stopped in her tracks causing Chika to as well. "People are ugly. They only care about themselves and purge everything that contradicts them. But they can change. Those mediocre girls on that billboard, shined. They shined so strongly that it proved me wrong. If I can be proved wrong, then I know other people can be too. And, I want to be like them because I want to show others that shine. I want to prove others wrong."

Silence filled the hall as they stood there. Chika stared at You as soon as she was done. You made no movements which made Chika start to regret saying anything. The silence didn't help. "How many people have you recruited?"

"Eh?"

"How many people have you recruited? For your group."

"Z-Zero."

You paused again before suddenly spinning around with a giant smile. Chika jumped a bit when she saw it. Maybe she was apart of a group targeting Chika and now she was gonna start laughing at her for her stupid explanation. That thought was immediately shattered. "Congrats Chika Takami. I wasn't looking at you but I could feel it. At least to some extent. The shine I mean. I'm not exactly the prettiest girl and I can't sing well and I also may not show up some days due to other club activities but…" You bowed before Chika. "Can I join your school idol group?"

"... Huh?" Chika was struck by lightning and was left dumbfounded. Chika stood there with You still bowing before her.

You stood from her bow. "I mean I'm not exactly convinced I'm wrong but… I'm curious. If that shine proved you wrong, then I want to see. See if you can make that same shine for me and prove me wrong."

Chika's mind was blank, not even white or black until slowly, You's words echoed in her brain. In various volumes, You's words echoed off the walls of Chika's brain as Chika slowly found the meanings of each word. Then it registered. Chika's hands went cold as her eyes widened. You wasn't a part of a group that targeted Chika. You was a part of a group with Chika. "Yes!"

You put on an even wider smile before lunging herself onto Chika in a hug. Chika stiffened as You's arms wrapped around her. What was she doing? Was this some sort of attack? A wrestling move? Did she want to have a sumo match? "Uh… What're you doing?"

You stiffened up a bit before quickly removing herself. "Sorry." She said with a slight blush. "Got a bit excited for some reason. Had the urge to hug and I just did it. I'm kind of impulsive when it comes to actions."

That was a hug? Chika had only heard of it in books and legends from afar as a gesture of affection and that it was nice to receive one but the fact that Chika would ever receive one was unthinkable. Chika also thought it wasn't that nice to receive as it hurt.

Seeing Chika's poker face on the sudden hug, You pressed her lips together and started walking again. "Anyway… Let's go get approval from the student council president." Chika nodded in agreement before following.

"Ah! Wait!" Chika jumped a bit from the sudden exclamation from You.

"W-What is it?"

"You're talking!"

"Eh…"

Chika didn't know if she should've felt betrayed, offended, astonished, or all three at once. "That means we're friends now right?" You spread her arms out in explosive gestures. Chika started leaning back. Maybe Chika had it all wrong about You. She seemed quite eccentric and weird herself. Either that or the ways of the popular girls were very lost on Chika. In response to You's question of friendship, Chika pressed her lips together and shrugged before she started walking again. You paused at Chika's response before composing herself and muttering about how she messed up. Through her pressed lips, Chika smiled.

"Okay. We're here." You pointed at a door in front of Chika to her left. Chika approached the door which separated the duo from the student council president with slow steps. When they were inches away, Chika reached out for the doorknob. "Ah wait. We should probably knock." Chika retracted her hand before knocking on the door three times.

There was a pause before a voice replied, "Come in." Chika opened the door and entered the semi-chilly room. You followed suit.

The room was about half the size of a classroom. Bookshelves lined the walls to the left and right of Chika. Next to the door was a small section of electrical equipment which controlled the school's intercom system. In the middle of the room was a desk with papers neatly assorted on it with a black haired girl seated before it.

The black haired girl was reading one of the papers on the desk with light green eyes. The first thing Chika noticed aside from the black hair and green eyes was the beauty mark under her lower lip. As Chika approached the desk, the president put the paper down onto the desk and rose her head to meet Chika's gaze. You closed the door after her and walked up to Chika's side. Chika felt the hairs on her arms rise as Chika felt the full brunt of the president's pressure.

"How can I help you?" The president asked in a calm, sharp voice.

"U-Uh… I- err… um…" You stuttered out. The president sent her gaze away from Chika and pointed it at You. "W-W-We… We uh…" Chika glanced to her side to see You as stiff as she was. You was probably more nervous than she was. In fact, You was starting to sweat and her bottom jaw was quivering. The cold room really didn't help You's stuttering Chika guessed.

"We'd like to establish a club." Chika was astounded. Did she just speak? Under this immense pressure? Did she just speak? The fact Chika had spoken with no issue so easily irked Chika. She has only interacted with You for a short time yet she was already starting to change. You was not just an angel. You was a powerful angel. Chika felt powerful. Like she could do anything. Even the pressure of the president was nothing as long as You was with Chika.

"What type of club?" The president snapped her gaze at Chika.

"A school idol club." The president narrowed her gaze when Chika finished her statement. Chika could feel the pressure rising. Her heart started beating faster as a cold burn ate at her stomach.

"A school idol club… Are you perhaps planning to start a group?"

"Yes."

"How many people have you recruited?"

"Only me and You."

"You do know you need at least six members to establish a club right?"

"I'm sorry. I wasn't finished. There are four others."

"Who?"

Chika racked her brain for names. Right now she had two of students in her mind: the goldie and the redhead. If Chika is correct, the goldie was named Hanamaru and the redhead was named Ruby. But that would only bring the total to four. Chika remembered the dark blue haired girl. Chika didn't hear what she had said when she fell out of the tree but she did hear "Yohane" and "Yoshiko." As far as Chika knew, those weren't words and were instead names. One of them was probably her actual name. Maybe. It was fifty-fifty chance but perhaps it was Yoshiko? Chika would go with that. That was still only five people total. Who else… who else was there… At this point anything would work. Riko Sakurauchi popped into Chika mind. Wait, whose name was that? Where had she heard it? That's right, during lunch, You pointed out the transfer student. It'll work, that's six people.

"Riko, Hanamaru, Ruby, and Yoshiko." Chika responded. The president kept her narrow gaze locked on Chika.

"Why haven't they joined you here?"

"They were all busy."

"Where are their signatures?"

"Eh?" Chika paused. Signatures? For what?

"The club submission form. You're supposed to have signatures from joining members. Speaking of which, where is it?"

"Club... submission... form?"

The president didn't respond and continued to gaze at Chika. After several moments, the president sighed and leaned back into her chair. "You were lying about the other four weren't you?"

Chika averted her gaze to the floor as she let an "Uhhh…" trail from her mouth. For some reason, Chika's thoughts were preoccupied with how all of the split decision thinking was for nothing.

"Okay, how about this." Chika lifted her gaze. "Since you're desperate enough to lie, that must mean you really want to be a school idol right? Since it doesn't look like we're gonna get that many club submissions this year, I'll consider establishing your club starting with only you two."

Chika brightened as the president spoke. "If you tell me why you want to be one and your plans on how you will succeed." Chika stopped brightening up. Telling her why was easy, telling her the plan was not. After all, Chika didn't think about the plan as much as just doing it. Chika met the president's gaze and it was then that Chika decided to make the plan up on the spot.

"The reason I want to become a school idol is because I was inspired by a performance by the winners of this tournament called Love Live U's. When-"

"Stop." Chika bit her tongue as the president interrupted her. The cold burn eating away at Chika grew as the president's gaze intensified with supposed anger. "What did you just say?"

"Uh… The reason I want to become a school idol is because I was inspired by a performance by... the winners of this tournament... called Love Live... U's..." The president tapped her right index finger on her desk, each tap getting louder as Chika continued to speak. When Chika reached the end of her sentence, the president stood up and turned to face the window behind her.

"Can it be, that you are talking about… μ's?" The president said in a low voice.

"O-Oh… Was it pronounced "muse?" Chika felt a shiver climb up her body. "U-Um, wow, I thought that you know, it was like a fancy-"

"Quiet."

"I'm sorry, yes ma'am."

Chika pressed her lips together as the president turned to face her. The president's facial expression was serene. It was like the ocean before a storm. The feeling deep within Chika, the cold burn eating away, disappeared. It was then replaced with dread. True dread. Nothing like Chika had ever felt before. Something was going to happen. That's what the dread told her. Something was going to happen and it was going to be more severe than being yelled at.

"How dare you. How dare you mistake their name? Huh." The president took a step forward as her expression transformed into, not one of anger or ugliness, but one of serious determination. "In the school idol world, they are legendary. They're the holy ground, the holy scripture, the origin of life equivalent to the universe. And you dare mistake their name! Absolutely ridiculous." The president pointed a finger at Chika as she approached.

"A-Aren't you a bit close?" Chika backed up as the president kept walking toward her.

"I bet you just stumbled upon them randomly, and with your scarce knowledge, thought you'd imitate them? Right?"

"N-No I-"

The president backed away and walked toward her desk. "Then tell me the first song μ's sang as a group of nine?"

"Uh… Um…"

"You're wrong!" The president marched back up to Chika and shoved her finger into Chika's collarbone. "Its "Bokura no Live Kimi to no Life," shortened as "Borarara."

Chika winced as the president twisted her finger before backing off once more. "Next. What stage did μ's and A-RISE choose during the second Love Live Preliminary round?"

"Stage?"

"You're wrong!" The president walked toward the window. "The rooftop of Akihabara's UTX High. It was the preliminary round against A-RISE, another legendary group."

"Next. During the Second Love Live finals, what did μ's sing for their encore?"

"Bokura… something…"

"Bokura wa Ima no Naka de." As the president's trivia went on, the feeling of dread within Chika started to subside. It didn't help Chika's dread that the president was starting to smile as she unraveled her endless amounts of μ's trivia to Chika and You. "Also, during the beginning of the song, four of the nine members skipped the beginning song. Those four members were Eli Ayase, Nozomi Tojo, Rin Hoshizora, and Maki Nishikino. This is basic stuff."

However, the dread inside Chika didn't disappear. The president narrowed her gaze as she took a step toward Chika once again. "Tell me… Mmm…"

"Ch-Chika. Chika Takami."

"Tell me Chika Takami." The president took another step toward Chika. Although Chika's eyes were fixed on the president's, from her peripherals, she saw the president extend her left arm beneath the desk. "You want to be a school idol yet you don't know anything about them? I bet you think they are all cute and no effort. Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong."

The president still wore a proud smile as she took something from under the desk and hid in behind her leg. "Tell me. How are you going to make costumes? How are you going to compose songs? How are you going to create choreography that creates the perfect balance between being scenic and high effort while simple enough to not wear you out or compromise your voice? How are you going figure out the patterns of appealing to the audience most?"

"Chika." Chika could hear You from the side call her name followed by timid footsteps that grew more purposeful. The dread which had subsided, grew substantially. Something was wrong.

"Most importantly." The president stopped mere inches before Chika. "Assuming you start becoming famous, how are you going to survive against your competition?"

"By proving them wrong." Chika did not know why she spoke those words or why she spoke at all. The dread within her was overwhelming… yet Chika wasn't scared. For some reason that she did not know, she felt powerful. Like she could do anything. The president's smile had faded but her gaze remained the same.

"I see. Hm. Not a bad answer." The president smirked. "In that case, I have decided help you out."

In that moment, time slowed down. Chika's eyes glanced down toward the president's left hand as it lunged upward. In it, was some sort of tool or weapon. It looked kind of like an arrow with the arrowhead, heading straight for Chika's neck. Chika reached out an arm to intercept it but the second Chika started moving, she knew she was too slow. The arrow was close now, about a foot away from her neck. Then suddenly, Chika was shoved to the side.

Time sped up as Chika landed on the ground. Despite the slight disorientation of not knowing what happened, Chika jumped to her feet. She looked to the spot she was standing previously to see You wrestling the president for the arrow. You's right hand was gripping the president's left arm and was in the middle of retracting her left from after pushing Chika before reaching for the president's right shoulder. Chika took a step toward them before stopping in her tracks. You's left hand passed through the president's shoulder as if the president had become a ghost.

You's eyes widened as the momentum of pushing forward didn't stop at the president's shoulder. In response to stumbling over, You loosened her grip on the president's left arm in preparation for her landing. It was then that the president wriggled free from You's grip, gripped the underside of You's left arm with her right, aimed the arrow head at You's neck, and without mercy, plunging it straight in. You stiffened upon impact.

"You!" Chika shouted in response to the scene. Although Chika wanted to move, she was frozen. Shock grasped Chika's body as she watched You's body quiver. Shock grasped Chika's body as You latched her right hand onto the president's face in a desperate attempt to push her away. Shock grasped Chika's body as the president shifted her body before stabbing the arrow in deeper into You's neck. Shock grasped Chika's body as the life within You's eyes drained as fast as the blood spilling out from the wound. Shock grasped Chika's body as the president wiggled the arrow out of You's neck and tossed her aside. Shock grasped Chika's body as You fell onto the floor with blood gushing out like a mini Niagara Falls. Shock grasped Chika's body when the president turned to look at Chika.

Shock let go of Chika's body as her migraine returned.

- **To Be Continued** -

* * *

 **A/N: Jesus Christ. I finally finished this chapter. God. I started this back in June of this year and just now I finished it in December, two days before New Year's. I didn't exactly work on this chapter for seven months though. I wrote like the first two pages in June, took a six month break, then started writing it again five days ago. I wasn't lying when I said the updates are coming erratically xD. Anyway, how was the chapter? This was probably the longest chapter I have ever written. Any thoughts are appreciated. While I prefer constructive criticism, regular criticism is welcome xD. Oh yeah, stands next chapter xD. And with stands, expect the after chapter thing to be stand info like appearance, ability, and stats. I would do the first one now since technically Dia's was revealed but… I want the first to be Chika's so sorry xD. Anyway, I'mma wrap this up. Been working since midnight and it's 9 AM now so I'm gonna go catch up on some Zzzz's. See ya guys later xD.**

 **Forgot about the out of context quote of the chapter: "** At this rate, You might shove it down Chika's throat, skin and all."


	2. Chika Takami Wants to Shine! Part 2

**A/N: Hey guys! I hope you're ready for the useless A/N of the chapter! I actually have no news to tell you guys but since I don't feel right not writing one of these; I'm going to tell you something random. Does anyone remember Shizuka Joestar from part 4? The baby with the invisibility stand? Wouldn't it be cool if there was a Jojo game where you played through her bizarre story? Maybe I can write a fanfic on that… Nah, there's probs already fanfic about that. (I just checked and there are like a million of them xD) Ok anyway, here's the chapter xD. Hope you guys like it!**

 **MAJOR Edit: Lol, so I lied about not having any news. Basically, for people who have read this fanfic before 10-14-19, you should reread this as well as chapter 3. I have made MAJOR edits to both of these chapters.**

* * *

 _Chapter 2: Chika Takami Wants to Shine! Part 2_

Philosophical Optimism is a position proposed in the sixteen hundreds that argues that the world we currently live in is the "best world" God could have possibly made. With this, Philosophical Optimism suggests that while there is still evil in the world, it could have been much worse. Despite its simplistic name, it is far from clear that the view is "optimistic." While it says the world is the best, it could also mean that there is no room to improve. There is no way to get better results, no way to rid the world of more evil or evil entirely.

To Chika, this philosophy meant that she was made to be hated; that no matter what she did, her situation would never get better. And Chika wholeheartedly believed it. Chika had tried many times in the past to get rid of her lack of desire. No matter what, it wouldn't leave her. Nothing interested her, even if she forced herself to stay with one thing, she would never find a passion for it. Furthermore, Chika had never met anyone who accepted this side of her. For Chika's entire life, no matter what she did, her situation never got better. That was until she met You Watanabe.

Chika didn't believe true friendship could develop in one day. It seemed impossible that two people could trust and depend on each other so easily. From Chika's point of view, people were too ugly and selfish to do so. However; in one day, Chika had betrayed her previous opinions and became friends with You Watanabe.

Though when Chika thought about it, it made sense. You, in one day, had proved her wrong multiple times. Chika thought You would think she was weird, You did not. Chika thought You could not ever understand, You did. Chika thought You wouldn't even talk to her more than once, You did talk to her more than once. Chika thought that she could never break out of being someone made to be hated, You broke her out by not hating her. No, there were more methods than just not hating her. When Chika found μ's and after a day started doubting herself, You stopped her. When Chika was in a pinch from her tendency to not talk much, You decided to talk for her. In a way, without You, Chika wouldn't be where she was. In a way, without You, Chika wouldn't have gained a desire. In a way, without You, Chika would never have been able to break out of the "Best World." And because of that, Chika was grateful to You.

That all came crashing down. In one moment, Chika's gratitude spilled out as fast as the blood gushing out of You's neck. How had Chika not seen this coming? How had Chika let herself be clouded? Chika was made to be hated and to have someone come in and try and change that was a big no in the eyes of the "Best World." If this was the "Best World" how could improvement for Chika occur? Chika had fooled herself. At this point, Chika should be called "Chika: The Modern-Day Zanni."

No. That's not right. Chika's going about this wrong. Chika had been proved wrong. Chika had been proved wrong by You Watanabe and it was genuine. Even if You were dead, the fact that You were able to make all of the things Chika thought were impossible possible was enough proof that Chika could break out. It was enough proof that this wasn't the "Best World." Plus why does it have to be the "Best World?" Why couldn't Chika deny it and stomp it to the ground? Because God said so? So what? That just means God wasn't almighty enough to make it better. Chika's gratitude would not die so easily. Not after being proven wrong. So as shock let go of Chika's body and the president took a step towards her, Chika would resolve in her heart that she would leave alive and break out of the "Best World" completely.

Chika studied the president as the president advanced towards her. The president had a confident stride, one filled with purpose. Her expression was serious and motivated. As the president made her way toward Chika, she switched the arrow from her left hand to her right. Yup, she was definitely going to try stabbing Chika too. It was here that a thought came to her. Why was the student council president committing murder? Why did You's hand phase through the president's shoulder? God, saying student council president or president over and over is starting to get annoying. Chika had no idea why in such a situation, she was being sarcastic to herself. Maybe it was because Chika had gained confidence. Maybe it was because Chika didn't feel threatened. Or maybe it was because Chika had already decided, in her mind, what she was going to do.

When the president got within a meter of Chika, Chika took a step forward and raised her left fist back with the intent to punch. In response, the president shot her right arm forward toward Chika's neck with the arrow in hand. Chika didn't look at the arrow and blocked the arrow with her left hand. The arrowhead penetrated into Chika's hand until it made a hole right through it. Chika grit her teeth as she reeled her right fist back before launching it for the president's face.

"Wh-" Chika's fist connected to the president's face as her eyes shifted from the arrow piercing Chika's hand to the incoming fist. The president fell from the impact and while Chika took a moment to acknowledge how much punching a person hurt, she glanced over at the president who was in the middle of recovering. It occured to Chika that she should stomp on the president. Chika briskly walked over to the president's side and raised a foot over the president's torso before stomping downward. The president raised a hand and intercepted the stomp, stopping it.

Before Chika could question how the president was fast enough to intercept it, Chika lifted herself off the ground using the president's hand as stool then crashed her other foot onto the president's face. Chika didn't think about how the president still kept a tight and steady grip on Chika foot as she smashed the President's face with her weight. Chika had connected four blows before she was tossed into the air.

Chika hadn't processed what had happened until after she landed hard on her side which left her gasping for air. Although Chika wondered how she went from stomping to the ground coughing, she forced herself to stand. As Chika did, she noticed the arrow still stuck in her hand. It was then that her body exploded. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before. Her hand felt like it was taped to a stove that had been burning for hours. Chika couldn't help but let out a scream as she gripped her wrist in a futile attempt to soothe the pain. Chika's knees quaked under the extreme sensation but still held their ground.

As Chika bit the gum inside of her mouth to avoid being louder, she glanced ahead to see the president standing and glaring at her behind a bruised eye. As soon as Chika made eye contact, the president started another advance toward Chika. Chika glanced at the arrow in her hand then at the president before her next course of action developed in her mind. Chika took several steps toward the president to meet her and raising her arrow-pierced hand with her other hand gripping near the notch of it, brought it down upon the president. The president made no movement to dodge and just as Chika thought the arrow was gonna connect, it phased straight through the president's head and body. Chika noticed the lack of connection as she stumbled forward through the president's body and as she turned to face the president once more, a fist struck her liver. Chika coughed as her legs gave out.

The president grabbed Chika's arm with the arrow through it, semi-catching Chika's fall. Chika placed her free hand over her stomach as she coughed violently. What the hell was that? Did she punch Chika? Why did it hurt so much? It's like someone shot a gun point-blank at Chika's torso but instead of penetrating her, it bounced off her skin. As Chika looked up to view the president, the president gripped the arrow and forcefully pulled it out of Chika's hand. Chika's body was shot into a rainbow of reaction. Chika didn't know whether she should cry, scream, pass out, kick the ground, she didn't know. She didn't know what was going on anymore. Who she was? Where she was? What she was? All she knew was that her hand was on fire and she needed to put it out; but no matter what she did, she couldn't. The president let go of Chika's arm, letting Chika cradle it while letting out restrained noises.

What would You do? If Chika had been the one to get stabbed in the neck and You had somehow got to the point Chika had, what would she have done next? Would You sit there making weird noises like Chika was? Would You grit her teeth and tackle the president? Chika didn't know. Chika would never know. You was dead. Chika probably was too. It was pathetic. Chika had just found what she wanted to do. For the first time, she found desire but now it was being taken away. Maybe the world she existed in really was the "Best World" and her stupid belief that things could get better was just that: a stupid belief. Maybe You proving her wrong meant nothing. After all, You was just an anomaly in the "Best World" that got snuffed out as soon as she tried to make something better. Why would You's action matter if she's not something that was supposed to be in the "Best World?" It was impossible to escape the grips of death from the "Best World." It was impossible to escape the evil within the "Best World."

Chika looked past the president to the spot where You were. Something was off. Something looked off about You. She still laid there, unmoving, but… it was like she wasn't dead. No, that can't be. It couldn't be. But the pool of blood around You was gone. In fact, the neck wound was gone. But how? Chika knew that You got stabbed in the neck. So how could all evidence that You got stabbed disappear like magic?

It was then that Chika would be proved wrong once more. As Chika observed the strange state of You's surroundings, she noticed a twitch. That was impossible. The "best world's evil" could not be destroyed. Nothing can survive death provided by the "best world" yet… it was undeniable now. Chika observed as You turned onto her stomach before attempting to get up. She failed and fell with a "Umph" which caused the president to look at You. It was surreal to Chika. You was alive and moving. Her wound was gone as well. Chika didn't know whether she should be crying, laughing, punching herself, sleeping, or doing anything. How many times? How many times had Chika doubted You? How many times had You proved Chika wrong? How many times will Chika continue to doubt You? How many times will You continue to prove Chika wrong?

Chika glanced up at the president who was watching You with slight curiosity. The "Best World" was the absolute best God could have created. That just means he was incapable and not almighty. Chika could feel it. Something inside of her changing. Chika was not going to lay there and wait for the "Best World" to kill her or drive her to ruin. Chika was not going to lay there as the same people who thought she was weird, go on living in the "Best World" without realizing how wrong they were. Not as long as You was around anyway. Heh so It was true. You was a powerful angel. Almost like something from a different world that wasn't the "Best World." And that gave Chika strength. It made Chika feel powerful. Powerful enough to take on anything, including the "Best World." In fact…

"Fuck the 'Best World." Chika balled her hands into fists. Chika half-expected her hand to explode again but felt nothing. That was fine. The president looked down at Chika with furrowed eyebrows. "The world is not at its best. Even if its one out of countless others, this is not the best. In fact, I don't believe the 'Best World' exists or ever will." Chika could feel her resolve strengthening, almost like it was manifesting into something physical.

"However, I know it can be changed. And if it can be changed, then that's fine as long as it gets better. I don't know how others will change it or if they would even try but I know how I will. By proving everyone wrong in the world. And until then, I'm not going to be killed." Chika lifted a hand to the middle of her chest, turned her head to place it on her right shoulder and had her legs together lying next to her butt, finishing her statement with a pose.

The president still stared at her with furrowed brows. "I have no idea what you're talking about." It was then that the president noticed the little creature hovering above Chika's head.

The creature was shaped like a small mouse that stood upright. It had no legs and instead had a short tail that squirmed smoothly as if it were swimming in the air. Near the middle of its body were two hovering spheres that were detached from the body. It had two small, red eyes on its head which was about as large as its body. Other than the eyes and a small crown floating above its head, it had no nose or mouth. On its torso was a small design of what looked like a tangerine slice with lines protruding from the design into rings around its body. It was mostly black except for the design and the lines which were a glowing orange color.

The president eyed the creature as it slowly hovered up to the president's face. It was when it left from the top of Chika's head that Chika had noticed it herself. Chika stopped posing as she watched the thing float toward the president. What was that thing? It looked like a mini ghost that Chika kind of found cute. Chika didn't know what to think of the little alien as it stopped inches away from the president. The president raised a brow at the it. A moment passed before its little hovering balls started to barrage the president's nose. It was here when Chika cracked a smile. Apparently it hated the president as much as Chika did. Chika watched as it kept punching the president's nose. Chika watched as the president raised a hand and tentatively, grabbed its body with her hand. Chika stopped watching as she coughed blood and fell onto the floor.

"Wh-" coughed out Chika. What was happening? One moment, she was fine. The next, it felt like a giant hand clasped around her body and was squishing it tightly. It was bizarre. If she recalled correctly, the president had grabbed it just before Chika felt the pain she was currently experiencing. Could it be she was feeling the pain from it? No. There's no way, that seemed like a stretch. As far as Chika knew, it was a completely different entity from her.

The president watched as Chika writhed on the floor along with the thing clasped in her hand. She was beginning to understand what it was. The president tightened her grip and watched as Chika let out a scream of agony. The president lightened her grip and watched as Chika stopped tensing up and breathed heavily. The president knew exactly what it was now. The president touched her nose as she looked at it wiggling in her grip. It was weak. Very weak. The president felt disappointed.

Chika glanced at the president as the president let out a sigh. Without mercy, the president tightened her grip as if she was holding a dumbell that was way too heavy for her. Chika let out a scream. She was gonna die. She was gonna die. She was gonna die. The president bitch daddy fuck was gonna kill her. Chika banged her head against the floor as the pain persisted. Why the hell was the pain of the little alien dickwad being shared with Chika? Where the fuck did it even come from? Who knows? Who knows? It didn't matter, after all Chika was being crushed to death by an invisible hand. What a happy moment! Chika just scored a homerun! Now she's driving a truck down an endless pit! Oh hey, now she's a Chinese emperor! Now she's marrying You! What joyous thoughts! Oh no! The homerun killed Chika's mom! The pit rejected Chika and her truck and now they're soaring in space! Her empire just got taken over by stupid rich people from a foreign land! You just got stolen by some guy and now she won't talk to Chika anymore! Why? Why? What horrible thoughts! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Bring the happiness back! Where's the positivity? Ahhhhhhhhh Chika just killed You! No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Joy! Joy! Joy! Joy! Jo-

Chika was fine. Chika was ok. Chika was breathing. The pain had stopped and was fading. Chika lay there on the cold floor as sweat dripped onto her bangs. After what seemed like ages, a thought occurred to Chika. She should see what the president was doing. Chika slowly shifted her eyes to where the president was. It was a confusing sight. The president had her arms by her side and her head was tilted slightly upward with a wide smile on her face. Her eyes were wide and unblinking. There was life in them but… it was almost like there was "too much life," to the point that they were glassy. It was almost like the president was off in her own world.

While the state of the president was confusing to Chika, what confused Chika more was the creature. It had changed, or rather, grew. Earlier it had been the size of a small mouse but now, it was about the size of Chika's head and shoulders combined. All of its features were bigger and bolder. The only major difference other than the size was that it had grown a zigzag shaped mouth and the small spheres had become small arms. It looked stronger. As Chika stared at it longer, the more it seemed "faded." It was obviously corporeal since the president was able to touch it, but it had a ghostly aura to it. It was strange. Why did it grow? Why did it grow so much? What was it? Where did it come from? Why does it look like Chika's hand could phase through it if she tried touching it? So many questions raced through Chika's mind and she hadn't even touched the pond of mystery surrounding the president.

"Chika!" Chika perked up at the sound of her name and shifted her gaze toward the direction of the voice. You had moved and was kneeling down beside Chika. "Are you ok?

You was completely fine, not a scratch was on her. Chika smiled at You's worried expression. Chika had confirmed it in her mind over and over but to have even more proof that You was alive made Chika ecstatic.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"A-Are you sure? You seemed to be in a lot of pain and were wiggling around strangely just a few seconds ago. Kinda like you were getting crushed or something."

"Yeah I'm sure. I'm more worried about you though. You got stabbed in the neck."

You looked down as she touched a spot on her neck and rubbed it gently. "I… I think I'm fine. I don't feel pain but… And it's like I never got stabbed in the neck but… I can remember it clearly. Not my thoughts though… It was like my body was… well leaving my body but I had this feeling of not wanting to die and-"

You stopped as the president groaned. She was looking in front of her with semi-glossy eyes. Chika slowly got to her feet as the president's shot glances around the room. The president was dazed. Chika had no idea why she was but it presented the best opportunity to run. Chika nudged You to move. "Let's go." The President landed her gaze on the pair. "Now… Now!"

You bolted out of the door and as Chika followed, she didn't notice the creature phase into her body. They didn't look back as they ran. They didn't stop running until after they passed the front gates of the school. When they reached the road, Chika slowed to a walk as exhaustion overwhelmed her. Her migraine wasn't helping much either. You kept running until she looked back to see Chika walking. You slowed to a walk too after looking past Chika for a moment longer. Chika eventually met shoulder to shoulder with You and the two walked along the road in silence.

Did that just happen? Did everything in the past twenty-five minutes really just happen? They were almost murdered. Chika fought somebody. There was a weird creature that appeared out of nowhere too. She got stabbed in the hand. Chika rubbed her hand which had the wound… to find it wasn't there. Chika looked down at her hand to find there was no wound. What? How could that be? Chika clearly remembered the feeling of having a hole in her hand but now it was gone. Chika didn't know whether she should've been bothered by this or relieved. On one hand, her hand wasn't injured. On the other hand, Chika was probably crazy. If the wound on her hand wasn't there, does that mean she imagined the whole event? No, Chika could clearly remember it. There was no way Chika could've been able to make up such a detailed event. Plus You was there. You got stabbed in the neck.

Chika looked at You who was staring at the ground in thought. Her neck was completely wound-free. What was going on? You definitely got stabbed in the neck. In fact, she should be dead. Maybe Chika did imagine it? It was starting to overwhelm Chika. Not knowing whether it happened or not was bothering her. She wanted to know. Chika wanted to ask You. Chika should ask You. It was so awkward though. The atmosphere between them was too awkward.

Chika tapped her fingers against the side of her thighs. What was going to happen? Tomorrow, if Chika and You went back to school, what would happen? The president clearly had something against them for reasons unknown. Would the president make up an excuse to have them meet her during class? Would she kill them then? Would the president start to target them? Would the president have other people target them as well?

Chika stopped tapping her thighs and balled her hands into fists. This was not a good situation. There were too many unknowns. Why was the president trying to kill them? Why did she suddenly stop trying to kill them? Why did their wounds heal? What was that creature? Why did pain done to that creature reflect to her? Wait. Pain done to the creature reflects to her. If Chika remembered correctly, it was still in the president's room. Chika stopped walking. You stopped as well and looked at Chika with confusion. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. What's going to stop the president from killing the creature? If the creature is linked to Chika in a way like pain, what's to say that the creature isn't also connected to Chika in terms of life.

"What's wrong?" Chika ignored You's question as she looked behind her. She had to go get the creature. If she didn't, it would spell bad things for her. But going back would also spell bad things for her. Chika dug her nails into the palms of her hands.

"Um…" You lightly touched Chika's shoulder which caused Chika to jump. As Chika jumped, something inside of her felt like it was manifesting. You jumped back as well. After a moment, Chika relaxed when she realized it was You. Chika expected You to smile or at least relax too but her eyes were locked onto something above Chika. Chika didn't like the stare, it was full of concern. You shifted her gaze at Chika before looking at whatever was above her again. "Chika. There's… There's something above you."

"W-What is?"

"I don't know. It's black and it's floating and it's arms are detached and… I don't know. I've never seen anything like it."

Chika knew what was above her head. Even then, Chika cautiously looked up to confirm her suspicions. She was right. It was the creature. How long had it been there? Why was it there? What was it doing? Chika and You stared at it as it started spinning in place. Chika slowly side stepped out from under it and went to be by You side by side.

"Why is it spinning?" asked You.

"I don't know." Chika responded.

"Do you know what it is?"

"No. Well… Sort of. I saw it in the president's room."

"You saw it in the president's room?"

"Yeah. When I was fighting her I saw it and so did the president and for some reason, whenever something harms it, I get harmed too."

"Um… I only saw it for an instant, but it came out of you when you jumped."

Wait what? It came out of Chika? Wait, wait, wait. "It… came out of me?" Chika looked at You. You nodded. "Wait, what do you mean by it came out of me? Like it came out of my body or…"

"I mean I'm not exactly sure but it looked like it phased out of you." Chika looked at the creature as it stopped spinning to look at Chika. It felt familiar but alien. It was like looking she was looking at herself in the mirror after having paint splashed onto her face in her sleep. Chika understood the alien part but the familiar part? Chika could say with confidence that she had never seen the creature before in her life, excluding the event with the president. Yet, it was like she was looking at something she was familiar with; almost like it was a part of her.

From the corner of Chika's eye, she saw You slowly approach the creature. What was she doing? As You got within arm's reach of the creature, she reached out a finger and poked it. Except, she didn't poke it. Her finger went right through the creature. You stared at her finger which was visible even though it was supposed to be inside the creature. Chika's migraine exploded in pain. You's finger went through it like it was a ghost. That made no sense. Chika didn't get what was going on. At this point, she didn't want to get what was going on. She just wanted to stop being apart of it.

After several moments, You retracted her finger and slowly bobbed her head up and down as she pressed her lips together. "Chika… I'm not crazy right? You saw that right?"

"Mhm."

"The president tried to kill us didn't she?"

"Mhm."

"I got stabbed in the neck."

"Mhm."

"But there's no wound." You lightly rubbed her neck. "There's no wound but I clearly remember getting stabbed in the neck. Plus you saw me get stabbed in the neck." You sat down on the ground as she rested her forehead on a hand.

"I got stabbed too. Though it was in the hand… The wound isn't there anymore either." Chika examined her hand. Apparently Chika wasn't crazy. The events that had happened in the last twenty-five minutes actually happened. Unless You was also crazy… And just so happened to have the same delusions as Chika.

"You got stabbed by that arrow thing too right? In the hand."

"Mhm."

"... Maybe that arrow heals wounds it makes."

It wasn't a bad speculation. There was enough evidence to say it was possible with both of their wounds being made by the arrow and then disappearing like nothing happened. On the other hand, why would the arrow do that? Arrows were usually made with hunting or killing living organisms in mind; yet this arrow just so happens to heal the wounds it created? That made no sense. Unless… The arrow did something else that it could only do if it made wounds. But what would that something else be? Chika had no idea. Even then, the fact that the arrow could heal wounds was strange by itself too. How could it do that? And perfectly too?

"Ah, this is just a really bad dream!" Chika snapped out of her thoughts as You plopped down on the side of the road. "Maybe I actually am dead? Maybe the wound in my neck didn't heal and I'm actually a corpse in my school's student council room with a pool of blood surrounding my cold body."

Chika pressed her lips together as You rubbed her head in frustration. She should say something. Something… Except Chika had no clue what to say. She hasn't been in this kind of situation. Cheering people up is hard when you don't know what will cheer them up. It didn't help that Chika spent most of her life in her head. Chika tapped her thighs with all four of her fingers once. "It's gonna be ok. Things are probably better than they seem."

You let out an offensive sigh-laugh. "Ah, yes. 'Everything will be ok' says the most antisocial and awkward girl in all of Shizuoka!"

Chika jerked back from the shady comment. Where the hell did that come from? Did that seriously just come out from You's mouth? Chika jerked back again when You sent her an unamused, cold glare.

"For all you know, you might be dead too. For all you know, the president might have some fetish for dead bodies and might be manhandling you into her own lifeless sex doll. For all you know, maggots might be crawling up your ass eating you from the inside out. For all you know, your family might not hold a funeral for you because A) your body is missing because its been made into the president's personal sex doll and B) because they actually don't love you and secretly hate you. Yes, I think 'everything will be ok' too. I'm sure dying alone and being the sex doll of a crazed murder as insects eat you inside out is the best thing in the world." Chika stared wide-eyed at You, unable to process the words coming out of her mouth.

"Maybe this road we're walking down is actually the path to hell. Maybe since our pools of blood are intermingling, we've been connected spiritually and will be judged as a buy 1, get 1 free package deal. Congratulations Chika Takami, you didn't actually die alone." You threw her hands up and lowered her head with a sigh. "To think I'd die like this. Maybe I shouldn't have talked-" You bit her lower lip to stop herself from finishing the sentence. She looked up at Chika with conflicting emotions of remorse and frustration with her mouth hanging slightly open in a subconscious effort to speak.

Chika pivoted her gaze to the ground. She didn't know how to respond. Her hands were numb and cold. Today was a great day. It's a shame that that wasn't the case for You. "I guess, um, that wasn't an a- **peeling** answer, huh?" Chika put great emphasis on the "-peeling" part.

You blinked at Chika. Chika wasn't getting a reaction. Did she say it wrong? Did she not put enough emphasis on the pun? Maybe You didn't get it. Yeah, maybe You didn't get it after all. "It's a pun. You know how like "peel" and "-peal" in "appeal" sound alike. It's a tangerine pun too."

You blinked again in response. Maybe it was that she wasn't a big fan of that one. That's fine. Chika would have to pull the miracles of miracles to ever have anyone be a fan of hers. "Ah sorry, I guess my puns aren't as **orange** -inal as my efforts of cheering people up, huh?" You wasn't giving Chika any response. Why is that? Why won't she acknowledge them? "It's another play on words because orange and "orig-" in "original" sound alike."

You looked to the side for a split second out of awkward tension. Chika knew exactly why she wouldn't react to them. "Oh come on, I don't think these puns are that **tear** -ible." Chika paused for a moment letting You room for response. Chika dug her nails into her thighs."It's another play on words because "tear" sounds similar to "ter-" in "terrible" and- Actually, are the tangerine puns not doing it for you? I'd hate it if you didn't like-"

"Hey, look; I didn't mean-"

"It's fine though. It's chill. I still have a few that will definitely **blow** you away and make you a **fan**! What do you call a thieving crocodile? A **Crook** -odile. What do you call a seagull that flies over a bay? A **bagel** -"

"Listen, I'm sorry. I-I just freaked out and-"

"No, no, no; I'm sorry for being the last and _worst_ person you saw on Earth!" Chika exploded. "I'm sorry for being the cause of your "death" to a murderer/necrophiliac rapist. I'm sorry for being a boring robot who tries to be "normal" but "fails miserably" because it's not in my code! Maybe I should just go disappear because it's apparent I'm bad news! I'm so incredibly bland and boring right? No one will miss me. Not my family, my teachers, my classmates, that one famous actor everyone is raving about, and most certainly not you. Except-"

"Just let me explain-"

"Except!" Chika rose her voice over You. Her untrained voice cracking from the sudden volume rise. "Except I'm not gonna die alone! It's not going to be because of you though! I'll have the fucking _maggots_!" As Chika balled her hands into fists, the creature floated over to You and sent a quick jab downward. It's fist bounced off of You's head harmlessly but that didn't stop You from flinching. "At least I'll be useful in preserving the life of maggots."

It didn't hit Chika that she snapped at You irrationally until after she noticed the creature's whack You on the head. At first Chika internally freaked out about the creature attacking You out of nowhere. After all, it punched You with total malice. Then Chika thought You deserved it. Except, You didn't deserve it.

You was going through some trauma. She got stabbed in the neck, probably; Chika was still confused on whether what happened in the president's room actually happened. You was just lashing out because she was scared and confused. Chika shouldn't be mad at You for that. Chika was lashing out herself after all. Besides, it was too naive of Chika to think someone like You was an angel. It was too naive of Chika to think anyone could see her as anything more than an unnatural weirdo.

Chika didn't notice the golden strings protruding from the creature's arm that were attached to You; nor did she notice the glazed-over look in You's eyes. By the time Chika noticed You wasn't responding, the golden strings were gone and the creature backed away from You. Chika looked at the indifferent expression on You's face before she cast her eyes downward. This was it. You's going to tell her that she's a creep and a weirdo with something incredibly wrong with her, that she was an untrustworthy freak, and then leave. Though she already kind of did. This was a new record though; going through the cycle in less than twelve hours.

"What's the sore, furry dinosaur's favorite word?" Chika flicked her eyes back up at You who had a small grin on her face. " **Saur** -ry." Now it was Chika's turn to stare at You blankly. "It's a pun, because the "-saur" in "dinosaur" sounds like "sor-" in "sorry." Um, and "furry" and "sorry" both end in "-ry" so that's also kind of a pun." Chika blinked. "The dinosaur, well, the dinosaur also says "sorry" a lot because she hopes that it will help remedy her soreness from messing up all the time. So it's a triple pun in one." You pressed her lips together from Chika's silence. "Hey that rhymed…"

What the literal, actual fuck. Chika nicked her thighs with her fingernails. What the rotten shit. "Huh?" A wave of anger, more potent than her last wave of anger, washed over Chika. It was sudden, almost unnatural. It didn't make sense for Chika to be feeling this way.

"What was that? A dinosaur who likes to say 'sorry?' Is that the mascot of some little kiddie show?" Chika scoffed. "Sorry? Oh, let me go chomp off the head of one of my friends. Oooooooooooops, I accidentally bit off more than I can chew. Well it's fine because if I say 'sorry' then, surely, the situation is automatically fixed. It doesn't matter if I left a stump of a body with it's head chewed off. 'Sorry' fixes everything!" Chika could feel the venom in her words. It would've taken her back a few if she wasn't being clouded by an outburst of rage.

"Chika I think you should calm down. I get that you're scared from what just happened but-"

"Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me? I should calm down? Speak for yourself! Who was it that spouted out all of that shit earlier? Oh, oh, oh! I know, I know. It was _you_!" Chika pointed sharply at You. " _You_ were the one who said that I'm the most awkward and antisocial girl of all of Shizuoka.' You were the one who freaked out that we were both dead, walking down the road to hell while our corpses were being eaten by maggots while raped by the student council president."

Chika twirled in a little circle. "You think that you can say whatever the fuck you want, rip someone out a new one, and then say one measly word and 'calm down' and then make up? You think that's how it works, huh? Well let me tell you that's not how it works. You can't just recover from that and still expect to be-" Chika slapped a hand to her forehead and swiped it forcefully.

"I'm not a freak! I'm not an untrustworthy robot! I'm just a person who can't find things that interest her. What's so wrong with that? What makes me different from anybody else when I still feel all the things others do, when I still laugh like others do, when I still _think_ like others do? So why does everybody shut me out? Why does everybody make all of these sly remarks and treat me like a walking wannabe Picasso painting? Why does everybody like getting my hopes up and then betraying them?" Chika bit on the gum under his lower lip. "Why can't I get out of it?" Chika's eyes hit the floor.

You stared at Chika who seemed to close to crying. "I… I guess I really messed up again." You paused for a reaction but got none. "And I really hate myself for it. I'm a super horrible person."

"No shit," murmured Chika. You smiled at that.

"You know, I don't really have friends. The people in the swim team might think of me as a friend but I don't think of them the same way." Chika flicked her eyes up at You who kept talking. "I push people away and I blame a majority of my problems on others. I don't really think before I say or do and, well, couple that with how rotten my thoughts are, I sometimes say really shitty things and do really shitty things." You swung her eyes to the side. "I really, really, really hate myself."

You whipped her eyes back to Chika. "But, I wanted to change. I wanted to become a better person who wasn't as impulsive and shitty. Except that seemed impossible. No matter what I did, I always messed up."

You stood up to her feet and took in a deep breath. "That's why, when I bumped into you this morning, I thought that it was fate. The wind carried my bike a little faster than I expected and I bumped into you and you didn't seem like you had any friends and I thought, 'Woah, this is my chance!' since I could do things for you as an apology for bumping into you. If I could do that successfully, then- well, that was enough proof that it wasn't so impossible to change."

"But then you told me your name after not talking at all and then you started talking more and more… Then you told me about your dream. About being a school idol and shining and proving people wrong and how much you wanted to change and… And I thought that it really was fate, that I met you so that you could prove me wrong and show me that I can change too. That I could become a better person. And then I thought, 'Maybe I can shine too."

You pressed her lips together. "But then the whole incident with the president happened and I was really freaked out and then I, well, I said those things." You shifted her gaze to the ground. "Maybe it really is impossible for me to change. Maybe the world doesn't allow for that kind of thing."

Chika hung on the last thing You said. The words wrapped around her exhausted mind and made Chika feel like garbage. Her migraine pounded her skull as if a parasite worm was trying to burrow out because it didn't like Chika's terrible personality. Her rage had passed and now she felt tired and pissy. She just wanted to go home and sleep. You poured her heart out and now Chika was confused about whether she should be angry at her or sympathetic. Chika also poured her heart out, which was pretty embarrassing, when she thought about it. In that respect, what more does she have to lose to pour out a little more.

"Have you heard of philosophical optimism?" Chika asked. You looked up at Chika from under her brows and shook her head. "It's this thing where the world we live in is the 'best possible world God could have made.' Because of that, people believe that the world is at its best and that it could be a whole lot worse."

You bobbed her head and up and down slowly, egging Chika on. "If you really think about it, it's not very optimistic is it? The world is so shitty that people feel the need to pull that 'at least it could be worse' or 'we should appreciate what we have currently with all our might' crap. I don't know how a world that won't let things be better be the basis for optimism. Especially if some people were born inside God's toilet after he took a dump and ended up in miserable conditions." Chika massaged her eye suffering the brunt of her migraine. "Besides, if the world is the 'best' how come things can get worse? Wouldn't that mean it isn't the 'best' then? As you can see, philosophical optimism is full of holes."

A small grin crept up on the corners of You's mouth. "So it should be called philosophical pessimism huh?"

"I guess. Philosophical pessimism as a name has already been taken though." Chika attempted a grin but failed. Damn, she felt super tired and down. "So, uh, anyway… I never really had friends either. Obviously. And that was mostly because I…" Chika sucked in a breath. "I have this lack of desire. It sounds weird, I know, but it's true. I never felt a want to do things, or a want for things. Because of that, people thought I was boring and a faker since I never wanted to do what they wanted to do, or have fun like they do."

Chika studied You's face of intrigue and attention. If You thought Chika was absolutely weird and boring, she didn't show it. It made Chika feel something. It was like an eagerness, like she wanted to share. Chika felt like she could share anything. Nah, that's crazy talk. Chika must be so tired she was starting to feel delusional about her emotions. Chika opened her mouth to share. "So I thought it was also fate. The day before when you asked me to help you hand out those flyers, I encountered them: μ's. That was the first time I ever felt a want to do something. A desire. And then the next day, you showed up again out of nowhere, almost falling off your bike, and pestering me over and over… For the first time, someone seemed to understand and listen to me and not care about my 'weird qualities' and my flaws."

Chika could feel a smile creeping up on her. That's impossible. She must have fallen asleep at some point and this was a dream. That was it. "Like with my refusal to speak, hate for tangerines, my sign, my dream to shine. Then you asked me to join my school idol group. I thought that you were a, well, a, uh…" Chika could feel the sweat forming on her brow.

"Thought that I was what?" You cocked her head to the side with a smile. A smile filled with devious intent.

Chika lowered her head a bit and said in a low voice. "An angel."

"Eh? A what? I can't hear you." You put a hand up to her ear.

Was You really an angel? Geez. Chika pressed her lips together as her cheeks grew warm. "Ugh, you heard me! Anyway! The point is-"

"No, no, no, wait! I really didn't hear. Come on, won't you please tell me?" You wasn't even trying to hide her teasing anymore.

"The! Point! Is!" Chika repeated. "You proved me wrong. More times than should be possible in a single school day. I thought that I was doomed to be forever alone and forever hated since this was supposedly the 'best world.' I thought that my situation wouldn't ever get better. But then you showed up and you proved me wrong. No matter how many times I doubted you, you proved me wrong each time." Chika let out a breathy scoff. "I mean you even came back to life when I thought the 'Best World' killed you for acting out of order!"

You giggled while rubbing her neck. "So, basically, you showed me that the 'Best World' doesn't exist or isn't the 'best' and that philosophical optimism is bullshit. I know that things can be better and that things can be changed so... " It was then that Chika realized that apparently she wasn't as pissed off about the things You said as she made herself out to be. "I know you can be a better person and shine. And… if you want, **You** can do it with me."

You stared at Chika for a moment processing the tasteless joke Chika just made. The lack of reply made Chika uncomfortable. Did she offend You? Before Chika could vomit out words of explanation, You stuck out her tongue playfully. "You should see the expression you make when you start to panic." You clasped her hands behind her back. "Sure Chika Takami." You then unclasped her hands and her smile disappeared as she remembered something. "That is if we can even form a group in the first place."

That was enough to make Chika crumple to the ground. Apparently it was also enough to make You crumple to the ground too. They had completely forgotten about the severity of the president situation. Chika cocked her head back and let out a long groan. You banged her forehead against her kneecaps.

Suddenly You started laughing. One of the most hearty laughs Chika had ever heard. Chika stared at You as she did, confused if You went crazy or if she was trying to prevent herself from going crazy. Did the events of the past forty minutes revive the trauma in You? Eventually You transitioned into a chuckle with a smile plastered on her face. Chika half-expected her to start breaking down. "Hey, Chika."

"Hey, You." Chika replied.

"I really am sorry for the things I said; and I don't really think badly of you as what I said implied." You glanced over at Chika.

"It's fine. What you said was one of the tamer things I've heard people say anyway." Chika glanced at You but looked away as soon as she noticed You was staring at her. "Sorry for exploding like that. Both times. I could've handled it better."

You sat up. "Woah, you do not need to apologize. I was definitely in the wrong."

Chika pressed her lips together. "Okay then."

"Eh that's it?"

"Yeah…"

"No like 'No, no, no; you weren't in the wrong. I totally understand why you said what you said.' Or like 'Woah, I totally do need to apologize because I said such horrible things."

"Um... no, no, no; you weren't in the wrong. I totally understand why you said what you said. Like woah, I totally do need to apologize because I said such horrible things."

"Ugh, I'm being sarcastic. You don't actually have to say it!"

Chika stuck her tongue out. "I know." You clicked her tongue at that. A small smile painted Chika's lips and she let it linger there.

"Oh, and, thanks." You added as she rubbed her neck. Chika raised a brow at the statement. "I don't know why, but I feel better. A LOT better actually. It's like whatever happened in the president's room was no big deal and like things are going to be okay."

Huh? What was You going on about? Chika furrowed her brows. It was true that You seemed awfully cheerful midway through the conversation despite being clearly stressed before that. When Chika thought about it, it was kind of unnatural.

"Actually… It's like the world lit up a bit. Like somebody took the vibrant colors of a jewel beetle's shell and rubbed it onto the world. I don't think I've ever seen the world this bright before. So… Thanks. I guess talking to you and letting out frustrations helped a lot." You shifted her eyes to her crossed legs. "Um, this is a little out of the blue but… I, I think you're a really kind person."

"Eh? A what? I can't hear you." Chika leaned toward You with a hand to her ear with a smug smile. "Come on, won't you please tell me?"

"Uuuuuuuugh, you are way too good at revenge teasing. Fine, I learned my lesson! I won't do it anymore!" You groaned before putting on the most brilliant smile Chika had ever seen. Chika had to rub her eyes to get rid of her temporary blindness. When Chika stopped rubbing, she found You leaned towards her. "I think you're a kind person."

Chika jerked back slightly to which You responded with a laugh. You leaned back with her arms behind her, propping her up. Chika brought her knees up to her chest and rested her head upon them. A cool breeze blew past them as it traveled down the coastal road. They sat there in silence as the sun slowly crawled from the sky to the floor.

Chika didn't think about anything in particular. If anything, her mind was blank except for a loop of a song's chorus. She felt like she couldn't think about anything seriously in that moment, even if she wanted to. Apparently You wasn't experiencing the same thing as she pointed at the floating black alien spinning in place and said, "I just realized that thing has been there this whole time."

Chika lifted her head up and looked at the creature. Her first thought consisted of remembering what she was looking at. Her second thought was if it got a bit bigger since she last saw it. Her third thought was it punching You with malice. How the hell did Chika forget this thing existed?

"What's it doing?" You asked. "It's just spinning in place. Speaking of which… What even is it?"

"An alien filled with malicious intent for the human race that we should eliminate now while it can't physically harm us."

"It's kind of cute. It has this harmless feel to it and it's like idiotic but in a cute way… Despite the fact that it came out of you and that my finger went through it completely."

"I don't know if you remember but that thing punched-"

"OH!" You exclaimed, making Chika jump from the sudden volume increase. "Maybe it's a ghost that decided to haunt you!" You turned at Chika who gave her a bug-eyed look of shock. "Like a harmless ghost that felt lonely."

"I prefer not to be haunted by a ghost that decides to punch people maliciously."

You stood up to her feet and tentatively approached the creature. When You stood in front of the creature, it stopped spinning in place and faced You. You waved at it and started speaking in a high-pitched voice you would use when talking to a small child or pet. "Hi, little buddy. You're a good ghost right?"

Chika expected it to punch You but instead it just blinked. Apparently it was also as confused as Chika was. The memo didn't seem to reach You though as she reached out a hand and softly swiped at it. "You don't have to be so nervous." You's hand waved through the creature- er, ghost as if it wasn't there. "Oh right. Can't touch you." You chuckled before she turned towards Chika. "You said you first saw it in the president's room right?"

Chika nodded. You's face lit up in realization. "Maybe this is the ghost of somebody the president murdered!" Chika blinked as did the ghost. Assuming how unresponsive the ghost was, You was probably wrong. You put a hand up to her chin as she examined it. "Hmm… How come it doesn't move. It's just floating there and blinking. The only other thing I've seen it do is spin in place. OH! Maybe the ghost became paralyzed before it died and it translated into their ghost form! Oh you poor thing." You softly swiped at it again, only for her hand pass through it.

Chika watched in amusement as You let her imagination go wild on what it could be, asking it if it was a ghost, or if it could twirl for her, or if it had a name; all while attempting to touch it. Each attempt ended in subsequent failure. Eventually You gave up and plopped down into a sitting position as if she had just swam through a muddy lake.

"Chika, I don't think it's a ghost. Nor do I think it's a creature, since, you know, I can't touch it." Chika nodded. "Why don't you try something?"

"Why?" Chika questioned.

You shrugged. "It came out of you. Maybe it's like your unborn child that came from the future with unorthodox tech or something."

Chika looked at the ghost and found it turning to look at her. You gasped at the new development. That was certainly interesting. Chika guessed she could try asking it some questions.

"Do you have a name?" No answer.

"Do you come in peace?" No answer.

"Are you actually my unborn child coming to visit me from the future through unorthodox tech?" No answer.

"Do a twirl for me." The alien spun once before looking at Chika again. To say You jumped to her feet as she yelled to the heavens in surprise was an understatement. It was more like You turned into liquid, defied physics on the way to her feet, turned back into a human, and gave a political speech in a language befitting banshees. Chika almost felt like doing the same thing but she need to confirm it wasn't coincidence.

"Punch the air." The alien punched the air swiftly with it's stick-like arm.

"Chika, Chika, Chika! It followed your orders! It followed your orders!" You was practically a monkey jumping up and down while pointing at it. Chika would've done the same if they weren't out in public, even if they were on a quiet coastal road.

"Yeah… I saw." replied Chika. It was then that Chika got an idea. What if she tried to order it mentally? Without speaking, Chika ordered it to punch the air three times. It punched the air three times. It was at this moment Chika decided that it didn't matter that they were in public. Except it did matter and the best reaction she could offer was a semi-audible "Oh!"

"Hm? What?" inquired You.

"I can order it mentally. I just told it to punch the air three times and it did." Chika explained. To this, You basically had an aneurysm coupled with a seizure. She was way too excited about this.

"Chika that's amazing! It's like your own personal servant thing! I don't really know what it is or where it came from but this is huge." Chika nodded. "Are you gonna give it a name?" Chika looked at You in confusion. "I mean since it's like your own personal servant, and you can't just keep calling it "ghost" or "creature." You should give it a name. I don't think it even has a name anyway."

Chika shrugged, You had a point. If it's like a personal servant, she couldn't just call it "ghost" or "creature." But what would she call it? Dave? Emerald? Shiitake? Those names didn't feel right to Chika. She looked at the ghost. It felt like she should call it something more. The more Chika thought about it, the more she hated her names. It was then that Chika started questioning the morality of controlling a completely different entity to do your bidding.

"Can't think of any huh? Hmmm, how about Mikan?" Chika shook her head at You's suggestion. She was not gonna name it tangerine. You sighed in defeat. "Fine. Uh… How about Sunshine?"

"Sunshine?"

"Yeah Sunshine."

"Why Sunshine?"

"Because all you talk about is shining." You stuck out her tongue mockingly.

Chika shoved you lightly. "No I don't!" You giggled at Chika getting offended which caused Chika to puff out her cheeks in a mini pout. "Seriously, I don't!"

You started walking down the road again and Chika followed as they bickered. The alien followed the duo silently. On the way to their respective homes, they experimented with it and it's abilities.

They found nothing. Except, to Chika's delight, they discovered that it could phase into Chika and hide. Now she wouldn't get interrogated about having a black alien following her home by her sisters. Chika shivered at the thought of what Shima and Mito would've done to the alien if it couldn't phase into her. They also found that objects such as rocks sometimes hit it or sometimes passed through it. Chika developed light bruises from the rocks that did hit it.

Eventually they arrived at Chika's house, where You freaked out about how huge the place was upon first glance. She turned to Chika with slight sparkles twinkling in her eyes. "Chika, I didn't know you were stinkin rich!"

An awkward drop of sweat made its way down the side of Chika's face as she corrected You. "Uh, actually I'm not. My family is pretty middle class. 'My house' is only huge because most of it is actually my family's ryokan."

"Eh? Really? Wait, does your ryokan have hot springs?" You's eyes were large with anticipation. Chika nodded. You took a moment to process before she leaned in close and elbowed Chika in the ribs. "Hey, uh, since we're, uh, you know… friends and all; think you can hook me up with free rooms."

Chika stuck her tongue out. "No, but, since 'we're, uh, you know, friends and all,' I can offer you free breakfast between six and ten in the morning."

You groaned before letting out a laugh. It was a little louder than Chika would've liked but she giggled along. It was then a great chill traveled down her spine. From the corner of Chika's eyes, hidden deep within the shadows of the front portion of her family's ryokan, she could make out the silhouettes of her sisters. You was in great danger if she didn't leave soon.

"Anyway, I should get inside soon. My family is…" Chika glanced from the corner of her eyes and she swore she saw the silhouette of Mito pull out rope. "Holding a game night and I can't be late so you should go like right now. Okay? Bye."

"Lame excuse Takami. You know, you can just say 'let's split up now. We can't be together anymore!" right? Don't worry. I can take it. It's all fine." Why is You still talking? Leave woman! You're about to have unspeakable horrors done to you by Chika's sisters! Seeing as You wasn't getting another dose of revenge teasing, she dropped the teasing. "Alright, anyway, see you later?"

Chika nodded. "Yeah, see ya." She glanced over once again to see Shima's silhouette take out a… Wait, what is that? Is that a bag of gummy fish? Did she seriously just take out a bag of gummy fish? Why is it so menacing?

"Oh wait, Chika, one more thing." Oh god, what is it now? Chika could feel herself start to sweat profusely as her sisters slowly approached the duo. "Do you wanna meet up tomorrow morning and walk to school? We can probably catch each other since we live on the same road- Oh wait, no, I can't cause I have my morning training…" Okay, okay; we get it You. You're ripped and you work out, please get away before all of that training is put to shame by the unnatural-natural strength and skills of Chika's sisters.

"I just got an idea." Chika didn't like the sound of that. "Why don't you join me in my morning training? If we're going to be school idols, we're going to have to have enough stamina to dance and sing through multiple songs right? No offense, Chika, but, you aren't the most athletic cookie in the bunch." This wasn't news to Chika but it still stung hearing it from another person.

"Don't worry though; we can take it slow at the beginning. I can show you proper running technique so you don't get worn out as easily and-" Chika cut You off there.

"Alright, alright; I'll do it. Just- My dog; he doesn't like strangers and I think you'll be in trouble if you don't leave soon. So… yeah. Okay? Bye." Chika flashed what she thought was a short grin then started shoving You away. Chika only got as far as turning You around before You stamped her feet onto the ground and became an unmovable wall. No matter how hard Chika pushed against You, You didn't move an inch.

"Eh? You have a dog? Can I meet him? I love dogs." What the literal fuck? Why won't You leave? This is freaking ridiculous. She keeps finding openings to stay. It's like she wants to be murdered by Chika's sisters.

"No, no, no; he's really mean so that's a really bad idea."

"I think I can handle him. I'm really good with animals." You slapped a hand to her biceps as she said that. Something told Chika that You didn't exactly know how to handle animals. Chika looked over at her sisters to see Shima and Mito strangling the poor gummy fish with the rope. What did the gummy fish do to deserve that? It's like they're not even trying to hide their animosity anymore.

"No, You; you don't understand. My dog, he'll, uh, attack you with gummy fish and he's really merciless with them!"

You giggled. "Oh really? Gummy fish? Chika I have a feeling you don't have a dog. Why do you want me to leave so bad?" Chika glanced to side briefly, watching her sisters pick the crushed remains of the poor gummy fish before they started their final advance toward the duo. Chika pressed her lips together and stared at You with great intensity as a last ditch effort. You glanced behind her at Chika before sighing. "I don't really get it but fine."

You moved away from Chika and turned to wave Chika goodbye, ending it with a salute and a "yousoro~" which Chika repeated with less enthusiasm. As Chika half-crumpled with exhaustion, she watched as You walked down the road and did an overzealous fist-pump jump at Chika finally saluting her with a "yousoro~." Chika sighed at the action and walked into her family's ryokan shaking her head.

Chika didn't realize she had been snatched upon entering the house until after she had been tied to a chair, had water poured over her, and faced both of her sisters with their arms crossed. Both of them were dressed in black suits and were wearing cheap sunglasses; except Mito's suit was unbuttoned, revealing a white undershirt beneath it. To say Chika was confused and scared was an understatement.

"Who are you and what have you done to our little precious baby sister?" Shima asked with an unnerving, serene smile.

Chika blinked at the question before looking down at her soaked body. "Did you guys really have pour water on me?"

Mito quickly stood and stamped a foot down on an empty space in the middle of the chair. "It was for effect!" Chika looked down at the foot before looking back up at Mito. She just messed up their interrogation act!

"You mean 'Answer the question!" Chika corrected.

"Ah crap! I mean, answer the question you sisterposter!" Mito corrected herself.

"Now, now Mito; let's give her some room okay?" Shima waved downward with her hand to which Mito responded with a click of her tongue and slowly lifted her foot off the chair. She sent Chika a death glare as she roughly sat back down in her seat. Mito was strangely really into this.

Shima chucked a bit before leaning forward towards Chika. "Sorry about my partner there. She's a little rough around the edges. Now, let me ask you again. Who are you and what have you done to our cute, innocent, baby sister?"

Chika stared at Shima. Chika could tell Shima was the one who came up with and devised this act that they, no doubt, pledged to do if they decided Chika wasn't "acting" like herself. Chika wasn't going to play along with this. "You guys have way too much free time. It's a little offensive that you'd rather waste away your time devising skits instead of tending to the ryokan."

As soon as Chika finished speaking, Shima reached into her pocket and slap-threw a gummy in the shape of a fish across Chika's cheek. Chika stared blankly at the gummy fish on the floor. Did she seriously get slapped with a gummy fish? Before Chika could question the gummy fish slapping, a hand slapped against her forehead and slammed Chika's head against the back of the chair. Chika flinched as her eyes met the menacing eyes of her elder sister.

"You think I'm playin' fool! I'll have you know if you don't answer these questions within five seconds, I'm gonna break all of your limbs and feed them to the Takami family's monster." Shiitake barked after Shima finished. Damn, they even got Shiitake to participate in this. "What have you done to Chika?"

"Woah, woah, woah; aren't you supposed to be good cop? This isn't very good cop-like!" Chika answered which earned her the narrowing of Shima's eyes. Chika was about to be in some serious trouble if she didn't answer. "I am Chika! I don't know what you guys are talking about with the whole imposter thing, but I am Chika!"

Mito joined by gripping Chika's scalp in her hand and giving her a glare as well. "Oh really? When were you born?"

"August first."

"When did I buy you your red lobster plushie?" asked Shima, a smug smirk on her face.

"When I was four on my birthday." replied Chika. Shima's smirk vanished at the answer.

"What's your favorite color?" Mito asked.

"Uh, orange." answered Chika.

"What did you break during Christmas six years ago?" Shima asked.

"Nothing. You were the one who broke the microwave by putting a mini heater in there with lightsticks and a bottle of alcohol. Mito blew a hole in the roof because she thought it was a great idea to shoot fireworks inside." Chika answered.

"What's the name of our dog?" asked Mito.

"Shiitake!" Chika responded. Shiitake barked at his name being said.

"What secrets are you hiding in your computer?" asked Shima.

"Why would I tell you that?" Chika replied. Shima clicked her tongue at that.

"Ah I got it!" Mito snapped her fingers. "Do you like tangerines?"

"Oh hell no!" Chika furiously shook her head no, despite Mito gripping her head like a giant watermelon and Shima holding her head against the chair like a giant bug she was trying to squash. Suddenly, both sisters let go of Chika and backed up a couple of steps. Chika wasn't sure what they were gonna do next. That was until they smiled at each other.

"We got em." said Mito.

"Indeed we have." said Shima.

"Huh?" Chika uttered in confusion.

"You may have done your research and answered each question correctly… However! You overlooked one thing!" Mito shot an accusing finger at Chika. "Chika loved tangerines!"

"HUH?" Chika exclaimed, bug-eyed.

"Not only that." Shima pointed her own finger at Chika. "But Chika never spoke to us verbally! She didn't when she was little. She didn't three years ago. She didn't yesterday. And she sure as hell didn't this morning!"

"And! And! And!" Mito viciously repointed at Chika which each "and." "You came here talking to some silver-haired girl as if… as if… as if she was your friend and was walking with you home from school!"

"Chika doesn't have friends! She never had friends! She probably doesn't even want friends!" Shima repointed at Chika each time she said "friend." Chika would be lying if she didn't feel a little offended by what shima said. "So how come that today, out of all days, she decided to go get a friend? In the time from when we saw her off this morning to now, she made a one-eighty and made a friend? That's impossible and inconceivable!"

Chika could feel her migraine starting to pound against her skull. Her sisters were more in the dark about her than Chika initially thought they were. The whole "parents watch their kids more than they think is bullshit." Although Shima and Mito were her sisters and not her parents. Chika sat in her chair mentally groaning as her sisters paraded around her in a small circle shouting threats at her. At some point, they started speaking unintelligibly.

"Now." Mito put a hand on Chika's chair.

"Now." Shima also put a hand on Chika's chair.

"What are you planning?" Mito poked Chika in the cheek.

"You mean 'where's our sister?" corrected Shima.

"Ha! Jokes on you. I actually meant my question and not your stupid negative infinity IQ one." Mito stared down on Chika as she said that with pure confidence.

Chika wanted to die. It would've been better to be dead in the president's room than go through this torture. As Mito and Shima repeatedly poked Chika, Chika sucked in a deep breath and let it through a big sigh. "What the fuck guys?"

"Woah language!" Shima poked Chika in the neck and twisted her finger. "Chika would never swear. You are an imposter!"

Chika was cold, tried, and pissy. She just wanted to take a warm shower then climb into bed. That's all she wanted. Not go through an entire improvised skit. Chika couldn't even provide adequate tsukkomi responses. "Guys- Er, Shima, Mito: I just wanna sleep."

It was then that Mito went into the kitchen and came out moments later with the biggest fish Chika had ever seen. It's corpse flopped limply as Mito carried it out. There was no way they were going to do what Chika thought they were going to do. "I didn't want to do this, but your uncooperation leaves us with no choice." Shima pushed her sunglasses up as she nodded at Mito. Mito gripped the fish by its tail and raised it slightly and got into a batter's position. Holy shit, they were.

"Her name is You Watanabe!" Chika blurted in a panic. The last thing she needed was being knocked out by a fish and having the smell of said fish on her. Shima and Mito froze; their interest piqued.

"Uh, I met her this morning. Well technically I met her yesterday but that was against my will. Anyway, she's just a classmate that just so happened to live along the road and thought it was a good idea to talk to me. She's not really a friend." Chika lied.

"Oh." Mito slowly let the fish down and looked at Shima who nodded at her to put the fish back. Mito did so as Shima untied Chika. Eh? Really? That was all it took? Chika rubbed her wrists as soon as the rope dropped to the floor. Mito returned moments later and watched Chika quietly.

Before Chika could question what Mito was scheming, something wrapped their arms around Chika's collarbone and forehead and exposed her neck. "Did you really think we were going to say that?"

"Eh?"

Mito pulled out a small knife. "Chika doesn't talk! How do you explain that huh?"

"Eh? Where did that come from?"

"If you don't answer in the next five seconds, we'll cut your vocal cords out!"

"EH?" Panic and adrenaline pumped through Chika as she struggled against the impossibly strong grip of her elder sister. Mito slowly approached with the knife clutched tightly in her hand. A small sadistic smile plastered on her face. "Wait, wait, wait! Is it really that hard to believe that I can talk?"

"Incredibly so!" Mito covered Chika's eyes with her hand as she cocked her arm back. A strong, fishy smell wafted into Chika's unprepared nostrils.

"Ah, wait, no, stop! I-I-I- Er, Ugh! I just thought that maybe I could give you both the chance I never gave you to get to know me!" The knife plunged through Chika's exposed throat and blood splattered from the force of the impact. Life drained from Chika's eyes as the red liquid dripped onto the floor...

Except that was all in Chika's head; and, while she did get stabbed, the knife didn't penetrate her skin due to it being a cheap rubber knife.

The hands that held Chika down slowly let her go as Mito discarded her hand from Chika's eyes. Chika's heart pounded in her chest as she sat there in shock. She now realized she was safe and wasn't dying a horrible death at the hands of her batshit, crazy sisters; but that didn't stop Chika from standing up from the chair and flopping up, around, and getting behind the sofa across from where her torture interrogation was held.

"Shima…" Mito dropped the rubber knife and looked at Shima.

"I know, Mito…" Shima returned a look at Mito.

A mixture of emotions painted their faces. Oh god, what are they going to do to Chika now? Are they going to pounce on her and attempt to murder her again but with a real knife? Are they going to force Chika to go through military training featuring guest stars Mito and Shima Takami? Are they going to lock her up in room under house arrest as they pretend their police officers? Chika watched them carefully as they slowly stalked their way toward Chika. Chika was about ready to bolt out the front door. She would've bolted out the front door if she didn't notice the tears streaming from both of her sisters' faces.

In one moment, Chika froze to contemplate the tears; her sisters rushed to where Chika was and wrapped her up in a giant group hug that knocked the wind out of her. Oh no, she was caught! Chika struggled against their death hugs but achieved nothing. What the hell were they doing? Was this some unorthodox method of strangulation? Wait, Chika went through something like this with You earlier. Was this a hug? No, there was no way this was a hug. The one with You was warm and gentle; this hug was dry and plagued with warning signs saying "Death Awaits Yee!"

"I don't know what happened but our adorable, precious, pure, lovable, squishable baby sister is starting to open up to us!" Shima cried in a shrill, old woman-like voice as she wiped snot on Chika's shoulder. Chika wasn't sure what to be unsure about. The fact Shima added "squishable" to her list of descriptions or the fact that she was crying, or at least Chika assumed she was crying.

Mito was much worse though. "Oh~ we ga~wd~ Chiwa!~" Mito bumped her head against Chika's other shoulder repeatedly as she cried out jumbled words in varying frequencies that Chika did not know a person could make. "I k-new bu albays hag ib in guuuuuuuuuuu!"

Chika sunk to the floor with both her sisters as they dragged her with them. They cried on her shoulders for what seemed like an eternity; Chika struggled to make enough room for her so she wouldn't suffocate or have her body snap in half the entire time. Chika didn't know what to make of the situation.

When Shima and Mito eventually calmed down, Chika laid on the ground; wasted and barely alive. She wanted to take a shower and sleep. That's all she wanted. Was that so much to ask?

"It's a miracle. Our baby sister is finally back." Shima wiped away a tear.

"Mm mm!" Mito murmured in agreement with frantic shaking and another wave of hideous sobbing.

"I just-"

"What is it Chika?" Chika's hands were taken in by her sisters; one hand for each sister. Shima had her attention glued to Chika as she spoke. "Speak! Speak to us! You can tell us anything!" Mito frantically bobbed her head up and down.

"I just want to take a shower and sleep."

"Of course, of course!" Shima yanked Chika to her feet, using only the force of her standing up.

"Go, go, go! You can do it. I believe in you. I'll always believe in you. Don't you forget that!" Mito shoved Chika's back to the nearest bathroom. Each shove giving Chika's spine cases of spinal arthritis.

Despite the pain Chika experienced, she slowly inched her way towards the bathroom. She was exhausted. It felt like Chika could collapse at any moment. It didn't help that she was extremely cold and smelled like dead fish. She just had to take a quick shower and then hop into bed and just sleep the evening and night away. Just thinking about going to sleep made Chika more eager to hit her bed.

As Chika made her way to the bathroom, Chika's sisters rampaged around the living room as they frantically set it up for what they described as a "celebratory party." Mito made her way to the kitchen saying she'll fetch the "tangerine cake Chika loves so much." Shima nodded with so much intensity, Chika could hear her nodding. Moments later, Shima disappeared down the hall shouting for their father to "get his lousy ass out of the kitchen and celebrate his youngest daughter returning home."

Chika trudged her way into the bathroom, fully intending to envelop her war wounds against her sisters in delicate warm water and then going to sleep in her comfy, soft bed. Her migraine pulsed with pain Chika still wasn't used to. Maybe the migraine was actually a sign that Chika was awakening to her hidden superpower of psychic abilities. Chika lifted up a hand at her toothbrush and willed for it to come to her. The toothbrush stayed completely still. Chika sighed as she accepted her migraine was nothing but useless pain.

What wasn't so useless, though, was the alien as it floated over the toothbrush and picked it up. Yes! Come! Give your ruler and queen her desired toothbrush you lowly servant! The alien tentatively floated up to Chika and gave her the toothbrush with an attempt at a bow. Damn, being able to control another being completely was great! Chika let out an audible gasp when she realized she was started to go down the route of being an evil control freak.

As Chika started brushing her teeth, she knew the day was finally at an end; and Chika felt the worst she had ever felt in her life. She went through more human interaction than she had ever been through in one day than she had in her entire life, made a friend, watch that friend get stabbed in the neck, fought a crazy murderer with an arrow, was defeated, found out her friend was still alive, run a marathon out of her school and onto a road, discover an alien that did everything Chika told it to, go through multiple existential crises, have a verbal fight with her friend, then got kidnapped and interrogated by her sisters. All with a killer migraine. Maybe Chika could convince her sisters to not have her go to school the next day… Oh wait, she promised You to go mountain running in the morning. Chika internally groaned to herself at the thought of the hell she would have to endure the next day.

Little did Chika know, her day wasn't going to end just yet.

 **-To Be Continued→**

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 **A/N: Hey guys! So that was the chapter. What'd you guys think of it? So I ended up not taking half a year to finish this chapter and instead about two or three weeks which was nice. (Edit: I lied. This actually took me half a year if you add in the major update I did to this xD.) So, in this version of the chapter, Chika does not know about stands; most of the stand rules; what her stand does; and all of that. I also expanded upon You's character so yay! \o/ … I swear, these people are practically different characters at this point xD. Anyway... See ya guys later!**

 **Out of Context Quote of the Chapter:** "... the president might have some fetish for dead bodies..." (I'm so happy I can put in a better out of context quote here now)


	3. Does the Night Sky Know Everything? P1

**A/N: Hey Guys! I hope your ready for another useless A/N. So who is your best girl? I would say mine but… I feel like it's obvious enough (If it isn't, it's Chika). Hmmm, what else… Oh, do you guys remember that one girl in Stardust Crusaders that almost got raped by a sailor ape then left like sixteen episodes later without making any contribution whatsoever? What if she got a stand when she got older and had her own bizarre adventure? She's like the original Shizuka Joestar just without a stand and without contribution to anything. I swear I don't hate her xD. Anyway~ on to the chapter.**

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 _Chapter 3: Does the Night Sky Know Everything? Part 1_

Chika's family consisted of her, Shima, and Mito. For as long as Chika knew, that was her family. Her mother died when she was a baby and her father always resided in her family ryokan's kitchen. Mito cooked Chika her meals. Shima shared her things with Chika. During parent-teacher conferences, either Shima or Mito came. Whenever Chika did something bad, Shima or Mito would scold her. Sometimes both of them at the same time. Chika considered their combined forces hell in physical form, but she appreciated their presence. Her father never came out of the kitchen once.

Perhaps at one point her father's absence had bothered her. Perhaps it had never bothered her in the first place. After all, Chika considered it normal. Her father being in the kitchen every minute of her life was a normal thing that her father did for reasons unknown to her; and for reasons she didn't pursue. It was fine if her father was in the kitchen all the time. She had Mito and Shima after all. Chika was indifferent about her mother. Chika couldn't help it if she was dead.

However, while the absence of her parents didn't bother Chika, the same couldn't be said about her sisters. Chika had heard that at one point, her family was whole. Her father didn't lock himself in kitchen, her mother was still alive, Shima and Mito didn't have a lot of responsibility; her family was normal. No one said it to her directly but when Chika was born, it was like everything broke at the seams. Though Shima did tell her that her father, apparently, started locking himself in the kitchen a year before she was born. Chika had a feeling she was lying.

Perhaps at one point, Chika wondered if she wouldn't have been as apathetic as she was if her family wasn't broken up. That her father may have inspired a potential career for her, that her mother could've taught her how to be more like a "normal" person, that her sisters could do what they actually wanted to do. In the end, Chika had no idea what that kind of life would've been like and accepted that the current situation was just as it was.

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Chika had no idea what her two sisters did in the brief time Chika was away brushing her teeth; but from the barbarian screeches they made in the living room, they were probably still freaking out about Chika "returning to them." She could hear the kitchen table being clamored with plates and whatever the hell else they were slamming onto the table. Shima was still trying to get her father to come out of the kitchen; shrieking threats and profanities at him while punishing the poor metal door with her inhuman strength.

The amount of sound her sisters made, made her worried that the current guests staying at her family's ryokan would start filing complaints. The literal earthquakes the two made with each movement didn't help quell her worry either. In fact, they were so boisterous that Chika's ears popped and rung with internal pain, even with the bathroom door closed.

That's why it bothered Chika when she noticed that all sound in the ryokan suddenly disappeared after she finished rinsing her mouth of toothpaste. Chika first assumed that the running water magically drowned out the noise, but that was quickly proven wrong when she shut the faucet off. Maybe one of the guests wandered over and told them to shut up? No, her sisters would have knocked them out and drugged them before dragging them to their room. They did it when they were having the time of their lives watching a comedy show; and they sure as hell would if the celebration of their "baby sister returning to them" was in danger of being compromised.

The first thing Chika noticed when she walked into the living room was the fresh tangerine cake sitting in the middle of the dining table with eight circles of candles stuck onto it. The second thing she noticed was- Wait, who puts eight circles of candles on a cake? How does one even put eight circles of candles on a cake?

Chika shook her head of her logic questions before examining the room. The second thing she noticed was the total absence of Shima and Mito. They were nowhere to be seen. This puzzled Chika. Aside from the fact that the two people missing were monsters trapped in human bodies; the dining table also had scented candles, balloons, and party poppers laid out as if they were in the middle of being set up but were abandoned at the last second. Her sisters were definitely here moments ago, and something told Chika that they weren't hiding to hold a poorly set-up surprise party.

Nervous sweat formed at Chika's brow as she looked around for clues. Where could they have gone in such a short time? Were they okay? What happened in those short moments between their loud parading and the sudden silence? Maybe… Maybe they were hiding. Maybe Chika was underestimating how willing they were to throw a super, poorly set-up surprise party. Or Maybe Chika was so tired that she passed out on the bathroom floor and this was a dream. Those explanations made some kind of sense. There was just no way that they could've just vanished like that.

Chika put a hand up to her flaring migraine and rubbed above her eye. Where could they be? Where was the last place they could've been at? Mito was near the dining table and Shima was near- Chika heard light sobbing. It was pained and choked sobbing that was… trying? To be quiet? No, it was naturally quiet; like a developed habit.

Chika looked around. Where was it coming from? As Chika listened in on the sobbing, her eyes eventually landed on the ryokan kitchen's door located down a corridor to her right. There, that was where the sobbing was coming from. Chika's eyebrows creased at the sight of the kitchen's large, metallic doors being completely open. She had never seen the kitchen doors being open completely. White light flooded out of the kitchen into the dark corridor; isolating the darkness of the corridor with the light of the living room.

"Shima's obsession with preserving power by shutting off most of the ryokan's lights except for the individual rooms sure resulted in one hell of an atmosphere at the moment." Chika sighed to herself as she walked up to the edge of the dark corridor.

The corridor was pitch black, as if it was a piece of the world that didn't exist. The ryokan was always set to a warm temperature of seventy degrees fahrenheit; Mito always made sure of that. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold. It was perfect. For Mito anyway. The temperature was okay for Chika. She usually felt comfortable in that temperature, if not a little too hot for Chika in the moment. Cold shivers danced on Chika's skin as if she was sitting inside of a car buried under snow. Standing there in that corridor made her veins constrict and her skin numb. She certainly didn't feel hot.

There was a sense of fear that gripped Chika. It wasn't the type of fear you would feel looking out of a window at the top of a skyscraper, no, it was something more immediate. Fuzz bottled up inside of stomach, inching its way around slowly. It tickled her sick. Her muscles involuntarily spasmed as she tried to suppress them from tensing up. If anything, Chika probably would have backed off and called the police. In fact, she should call the police. Don't the people that usually walk into places that clearly scream "danger, danger" die first in horror movies? Chika should just back off. This was way too creepy.

No, that's ridiculous. This is nothing. There is nothing. It's just a dark corridor in her house that she has walked through more than enough times to confirm that there is no lurking danger in. If anything, Chika is probably feeling this way because her "sister alarm" was ringing. She couldn't see them, but maybe they are still suspicious of her and they're waiting to mug her again. There was no reason to be afraid. There was no reason to back off and call the police either. Besides, what would she even tell them? "Oh my sisters vanished into thin air for about ten minutes and I can't find them. What? Wait, officer! I really do think they were kidnapped or something! Huh, what are my sister's names? Shima and Mito Takami. Y-Yeah, those Shima and Mito Takami. Yup, I'm their sister. W-Wait, officer where are you going? No I really do think the two inhuman anomalies of Numazu were both apprehended and kidnapped and taken away in a single moment! Please officer, believe me!" Chika grimaced as she ran a simulation in her head. Yup, there was no way calling the police would work in this situation.

It was a good effort. Chika looked at the open door at the other side of the dark corridor. Chika was about twelve meters away. The fuzz in Chika's stomach told her not to approach the doors; that if she did, she would be in an insurmountable amount of danger. No matter how much rational thought Chika gave to the situation, her body wasn't having any of it. Every cell of her body screamed, begged, and pleaded for her to back off. Blood pounded against her ears and flooded in and out of her nose; trying desperately in vain to hide the faint metallic smell and sobbing. It was a good effort but Chika had already detected both, and as much as she didn't want to acknowledge what they both meant, she already had. She couldn't back off.

As Chika steeled her nerves, she took a step into the dark corridor. Shivers crawled up her leg as she stepped into the corridor. One foot after the other she walked down the corridor. The dark surrounded her, enveloped her as she walked deeper as if it was blocking the exit behind her. She was ten meters away.

Blotches of sweat formed at the pores of Chika's forehead. She felt chillingly cold, yet sweat poured out of her as if she was walking in the middle of the desert during summer. The distance between her and the kitchen closed swiftly as she made her way down the corridor. Nine meters, eight meters, seven, six, five… It was unavoidable now. Her paranoid body couldn't trick Chika anymore. The metallic smell invaded her lungs like an airborne virus. An acidic tingle accompanied the smell as well. It was blood. That was the undeniable smell of blood.

Chika wanted to apply rational excuses. Maybe it was a dead fish that was cut upon to be cooked? Maybe Shima and Mito went too far in apprehending an intruder? Maybe her dad was a little clumsy and accidentally cut off his pinkie finger? She wanted to apply anything but the worst possible outcome that threatened to surface from the depths of her mind. She was practically up to the metallic kitchen doors. Four meters, three, two… Chika's hairs stood on end. She was just about two meters away.

She didn't see anything. There was no reason for the fuzz deep in her stomach to flare into an unbearable fear; yet something just happened… Something Chika didn't see just happened. In the pitch black darkness of the corridor, something just happened. Chika was sure of it. After all... She was now five meters away from the corridor. Was the darkness of the corridor too much for her? Did her vision cave in and start fabricating illusions?

That might have been the case. The corridor did seem to be stretching out which moved the illuminated doorway away from her. Dark rooms and corridors that looked like they were stretching out wasn't an uncommon illusion to see when trying to see in the dark for an extended period of time. Chika knew that much. In fact, she's experienced it multiple times before when staring at the ceiling of her room late at night when she was younger.

However, it was because Chika had experienced the phenomenon before that she could confidently; although reluctantly, say that the corridor stretching out away from her was not a mere trick of her eyes. The way it felt like the space around her was being pulled apart made her stomach twist. The constant speed at which the illuminated doorway moved away from her made her eyebrows crease together. The way the scent of blood slowly faded away made her nose inhale more. It was far too different and real for it to be a trick of the eyes!

But that made absolutely no sense! There is no possible way for the corridor to just stretch out like that! Was her house just a giant rubber band? What about the fact that the ryokan getting stretched out would affect the things outside?

Chika couldn't handle it. The pressure became too much. There was something very, very wrong and every fiber, every cell, every single thing inside her body told her to turn. That this was something she absolutely couldn't handle no matter how much she steeled or resolved herself. Chika looked behind her back to where the living room was, the safe spot. She just had to run there. It would only take her three seconds at most to get out of this corridor. That was all. Three seconds. All her legs had to do was run. Run!

But Mito and Shima! "Shit." Chika cursed as she clenched her teeth together and turn to face the illuminated door of the ryokan's kitchen. It seemed to have stopped expanding away from her… Not that it mattered as Chika dashed down the corridor. One labored breath after another, Chika's legs flew through the darkness; ignoring the screaming of her stomach and the burning of her lungs. Seven meters, six, five, four, three, two, one until…

Chika arrived in front of the ryokan's kitchen. The large metallic doors were open. With large gulps of sour air, Chika looked into the open kitchen door. The fuzz inside her stomach disappeared. The kitchen was normal. Cooking utensils were hooked around the room. There were two long silver tables attached to the floor in the middle of the room. The tables had sinks, stoves, fryers, and cabinets on them. Bumped against the left wall was a table with eggs and half-cut vegetables as well as a large fridge next to it. Towards the right wall was another table with spices and plates on it as well as a microwave and a dishwasher. At the very back was a small area with a stove.

Everything was normal. The kitchen was in orderly disarray. Her sister, Shima was on the ground with a bleeding shoulder and collarbone. The kitchen smelled foully pleasant. A man with a large shadow over his face, which she presumed to be her father was huddled near the middle right kitchen table, softly weeping to himself. The kitchen was a cool warm temperature. Mito was knelt over Shima with her hands pressed firmly down on Shima's wound while frantically looking up at the shadowy figure of the creature near the back of the kitchen.

Chika's eyes locked onto the hunched figure of the creature. The creature was completely black except for four red eyes on its face. It was about two heads taller than Chika. It's body was like a shadow with static like waves fizzing around it. Protruding from its back were four appendages with sharpened tips on each of them. It's arms hung at its side with sharpened claws as hands. It's posture was slightly hunched and Chika could see the tiny spikes poking out from the top of its head to form a circle. The creature wasn't moving, but she could see it was tensed up; as if it was about to pounce on unsuspecting prey. Chika jumped slightly as all four of its eyes snapped to make contact with Chika's.

"Chika." Chika glanced down at Mito who was staring up at her with the most intense and alert eyes she had ever seen Mito wear. Mito spoke in a quiet but urgent voice. "Chika, I want you to quietly step back." Mito glanced over at the creature before continuing. "And I want you to go grab a phone and call the police. Okay Chika?"

Chika squeezed her teeth together as she glanced back toward the creature. It's four eyes continued to stare at Chika, unblinking and unwavering. Chika wanted to do what Mito asked her to do; she really did, but she couldn't. Her body was completely frozen. Fear and shock took hold of her and she couldn't do anything except stare at the black monstrosity in front of her. In a strange way, it felt like the monster wouldn't move as long as she maintained eye contact.

It didn't matter if the monster was slowly adjusting itself towards her. It didn't matter that it readied it's sharp claws for attack. It didn't matter that it looked as if it was about to pounce on her and kill her. As long as Chika kept eye contact, it couldn't hurt her. She was invisible and invincible.

"Chika! Get a move on now!" It all happened way too fast. Chika barely registered the words in her terrified state before she was shoved out of the way by Mito. As soon as Chika hit the floor, she whipped her head toward the spot she was standing a second ago. Mito had replaced her; in both place and damage.

Chika watched as the monster flung itself and drove it's two upper appendages deep in Mito's right shoulder and side. Splotches of blood spewed out upon impact and Mito choked out a cry before falling to the ground.

"Not Mito too!" cried out her father as he choked out more tears and sobs. Chika barely paid mind to him. The monster was staring at her again after all; clearly bloodthirsty for more.

The fuzz in Chika's stomach returned once again. It burned with more intensity before it exploded within her into something else. Something that felt familiar to Chika. Something she experienced earlier in the day. The image of an arrow flashed in Chika's mind and it was then that she recognized what the something was: dread. It was only when she realized what it was that the shock and fear in her body released her and allowed her to move again.

Chika scrambled to the side as the monster lunged at her. The monster flew past her as she did and crashed into a wall. Chika took the opportunity to jump to her feet as the monster recovered. Chika could barely inhale a breath of air before the monster pushed itself away from the wall and glared at her. It's eyes were full of hatred that burned deep into Chika.

Chika quickly surveyed her surroundings for anything she could use. Her eyes landed on a bottle of pepper before the monster let out a low growl and lunged for Chika once again. In reaction, Chika reached for the pepper bottle and threw it at the monster. One of the monster's tendrils drove through the pepper bottle. Clouds of pepper exploded outward upon impact into the monster's face. It screeched as it slapped at it's eye. Chika jumped out of the way as the monster flailed into one of the kitchen's islands.

Chika watched as the monster flailed around the kitchen. The monster wasn't focused on her anymore. Chika took the chance to move over to Mito's fallen body. A small puddle of blood had already seeped out onto the floor. The dread in Chika's body screamed at her to check if Mito was still alive. Chika leaned down and checked Mito's neck. To Chika's relief, there was still a pulse; albeit a faint one. That relief drained immediately when Chika checked on Mito's wounds. They were way too severe. If Mito didn't get help soon…

To avoid thinking about Mito's mortality, Chika looked over towards the body of Shima. Shima was also wounded badly but Chika knew she was still alive from her chest rising up and down softly. What to do now? What did Chika need to do now? Chika glanced back toward the flailing monster before looking back down on the wounded body of Mito.

It was exactly like what happened with You and the president. Just like how Chika's inability to act cost You; Chika's inability to act with the monster cost Mito severely, and unlike with You, her wounds weren't going to magically disappear. Chika couldn't do anything. She couldn't move, she couldn't help, she couldn't even look at You or Mito. No, it wasn't that she couldn't. It was that she wouldn't. She wouldn't move. She wouldn't help. She wouldn't look.

Ever since she got the idea to become a school idol, it seemed as if the world was trying to kick her down. The president shot her down and then tried to kill her. The monster in front of her that is threatening the lives of her entire family. Her own weakness and lack of desire. They were all signs that Chika should not pursue this path. It was not something carved within her fate. Chika would've definitely given up.

However, she fought against the president and survived. She fought against the world and still came out standing. You Watanabe had entered her life and showed Chika that she could become strong and resist the world's efforts. Mito and Shima, as quirky and blunt as they were, they stood by Chika's side and gave her their support since the day of her birth. In fact, they still were. Even after getting attacked by the monster, they were both still alive! The world had failed once again and Chika was still standing!

Chika looked back at the monster to see it scratching at its eyes while wailing; the ugly fuck. It was killable. Chika knew in her heart that it was most definitely killable. It was at this moment that Chika had resolved in her heart on what to do. Chika looked back down on the fallen bodies of Shima and Mito. They have always been protecting her, even up to a few moments ago. If Chika wants to prove the world wrong and "shine," she's going to have to reverse that.

"WARRRRRGH!" The monster screeched as it violently twisted its body at Chika with a snap. Chika glanced over her shoulder to see the monster had wiped the pepper from it's eyes and glaring at her.

"Maybe I'm going about this wrong. Maybe the world is done trying to stop me and is now instead testing me." Chika sighed before turning to face the monster. The monster glared at her with the power of a thousand burning suns. In response, Chika lifted up both of her hands with only her middle fingers pointing out. "Fuck off!"

The monster's face twitched before it let out another wave of its shrill voice and lunged towards Chika. Chika had anticipated this and before she could even think about enacting her plan, her body had already begun moving. Chika reached out toward the handle of a giant metal pot resting on the kitchen island next to her, grabbed it, and hurled it around with her as she spun. After completing one spin, the pot connected with the face of the monster. The monster let out a short groan as it stumbled onto a stove.

"Alright…" Chika breathed in before dashing toward the fallen monster and the stove. When Chika arrived, she located a bag of flour; took it; ripped it open; and poured it out over the monster, making sure that some flour remained floating in the air with a flick of her wrist. Her hand jutted out for the ignition the next moment and turned it up to the highest setting. Small flames breathed to life underneath the stove seconds after she turned it on. The monster widened its eyes before snapping them towards Chika.

Chika stared back as she spoke, "Let's test how much resolve you have, you damn monster." Chika turned to run away from the stove and jumped behind one of the metal islands as the fire quickly engulfed the monster. Sparks flew as the monster's screech matched the pitch of the ensuing explosion.

The kitchen rumbled as pans and pots flew off of their hooks and various cooking ingredients flew from one end of the room to the other. Chika stood huddled behind the island for several seconds after the explosions before slowly uncurling herself. "Did I get em?" Chika asked herself as she crawled over to the edge of the island.

Before Chika could check around the edge, a hand gripped her shoulder. Crap, was the monster still alive? Did it get her? In a rush of adrenaline, Chika slammed her elbow into whomever was behind her. A male voice cried out as they fell over. Chika swiftly turned to face whomever was behind her. It was her father. Her father was seated with his legs semi-folded out next to him with a hand lightly gripped onto his shadowed face and another raised out in exaggeration. "Ahhhhh! M-My face! It-It hurts! It really hurts! *Hic*" Chika's father cried out in a hushed voice.

"Oh, it's just you." Chika relaxed herself. No, wait, she can't relax yet. What if that monster was still alive? Chika looked at her father who was whining out. Chika didn't know how to feel about her father, but that didn't matter right now. Chika completely overlooked him due to how he was curled up next to one of the islands but now that Chika acknowledged him, she could have him move Shima and Mito to a safer location. "Hey, I need you to-"

"Chi- *sob* Chika... My face… It hurts so much! It hurts so much that I feel like my skull is caving into itself. I think I'm gonna die. Ah… Why? Why would you do this to your father? *hic*" Tears streamed down Father's face as he choked out words. Chika stared at him with her mouth agape in mid-sentence. Her father squeezed his eyes shut as he shook his head violently. "Nononononono. That's not important. *hic* Chika~ you need to leave! It's not safe~. Take Shima and Mito- Oh god Shima and Mito… *sob*"

Chika watched as her father broke down, head against the floor, crying out in agony and sorrow. "I-I told them… I told them~! I told them to never come in! And-And now, just like Rie..." Father wailed to himself.

Chika's migraine pounded against her left eyebrow. Chika didn't know how to react to the spectacle in front of her. Her first instinct told her to drive her fists into his tear-ridden face. His crying was irritating to listen to and the fact he was crying this hard over an elbow to the face was ridiculous. Chika suppressed in her instinct though as she added in reason. Perhaps her father was too freaked out over the situation and was under the assumption that Shima and Mito had died. An assumption which would soon turn true if she didn't deal with the situation quickly and get them medical assistance.

Chika stood up from under the metal island and glanced over toward the stove. A large fire roared as it raged about. The top part of the stove seemed to have blown out and the large fire was spreading to wherever there was flour or other flammable objects. The fire was somewhat still contained though due to hard tile walls and floor. In the middle of the flaming hell, laid the monster. It stood still and unmoving. Was it dead? The only way to make sure was to properly finish it off, whether by piercing it's important organs or making sure it turned to ash.

Before Chika could do anything, her father lunged at her and bear hugged her legs. "No!~ You- You're going to try to finish it off, aren't you!" Chika's father looked up at Chika with a face of pure exasperation and desperation. "Don't! That's how it lures you in! First it pretends to have been severely injured or have died in a fatal incident and waits for its enemy to come close before killing them. It's how it got Rie and it's how it got me the first time it showed up and-"

"Huh? Slow down. What are you talking about?" Chika cut her father off and pried him off of her. "It's pretending to be severely injured or dead? There's absolutely no way that monster could've survived an explosion like that at point-blank range! And even if it did, it's just laying there in the middle of the fire. There's no way that fire isn't doing some sort of damage to it, and if that's the case, it would've been smarter to flop out of the fire first before deploying the "play dead" strategy. And what's this about "Rie-"

"You're wro~ng! Ah…" Father put a hand up to his mouth before speaking in a low voice. "Chika~, you need to leave~. Nothing you're going to do is going to work. [Yozorawa Nandemo Shitteru no] is unkillable! It's completely invincible! You could even launch a nuclear bomb at it and it would still survive! So please, before you end up like Rie, Shima, and Mito; leave~!" Father stood up to his feet as gripped his hands around Chika's shoulder and started pushing her towards the kitchen entrance. "Don't worry about me. F-For some reason it never attacks me. So I'll keep it watch and make sure it n-never escapes. Just promise me to never open the kitchen door. Okay~ Chika? Promise me~!"

Chika drove a fist into her father's jaw. Her father cried out as he let go of Chika and went to nurse his jawline. "AH! M-M-My jaw~! The pain~! Why~? Chika, why~?" Tears flooded Father's eyes as he stared at Chika for an answer.

Chika pointed at her father sharply. "It's because your damn voice is making my migraine flare!" Chika's father starred at Chika with despair and shock. "You keep spouting out some random crap about how "it's invincible" or this "Rie" person or how "I need to leave" in that stupid voice of yours and you're making it even worse with how you stretch the words out. And why the hell are you crying so hard? You seem to be perfectly fine compared to Shima and Mito who have holes in their bodies." Chika's father shook his head slowly as Chika spoke. "Like I said before, there is absolutely no way that creature is fine after an explosion like that and being in fire for so long. I already resolved myself to protect Shima and Mito and kill that monster! So, while the fire is still burning, I will make the most of this favorable situation and fulfill both of those things!"

"...J-Just like Rie… You're speaking just like Rie~… Nonononono, Chika~ whatever you're going to do. Don't do it! It will not work." Chika's father reached out for Chika again with a plead reflecting in his eyes.

Chika ignored her father as she set her sights on the burning body of the monster. It hasn't moved at all the entire time. Even if it had survived the explosion, with all of this waiting, the monster must be dead or just about there. However to make sure…

Chika opened drawers that were connected to the metal islands until she found the drawer she was looking for. Inside of the drawer were various knives, each sharpened to the point. Chika took out the longest and sharpest-looking knife and glanced at the still body of the monster. Maybe it was because of heat distorting the light around the monster but it looked as if the monster was a bit bulkier.

As much as Chika didn't want to, her mind flashed her father saying it was pretending to be severely injured or dead. It wouldn't be a bad thing to make sure. Chika checked to see if the monster's eyes were closed. They were. Chika took out three knives and chucked them at the monster. The first knife struck the monster's chest with it's handle. It didn't react. The second knife struck the monster on the torso with the point of its blade. It didn't plunge or cut into the monster. The monster didn't react either. The third knife should've cut right into the monster's neck. It was the most perfect knife throw Chika had ever done. Hell, to Chika, it might've been the most perfect knife throw ever. Except the blade of the knife bounced right off the monster's skin. The monster didn't react to this one either.

While the monster didn't show any indication that it was still alive or healthy enough to move, Chika didn't feel very confident. Two of the three knives she threw at the monster had the blades strike the monster and yet they bounced off without making a scratch. It was as if Chika hurled them at a metal object. If the knives didn't affect the monster at all, perhaps it was durable enough to withstand an explosion? Even if the explosion severely injured the monster, would Chika even be able to stab through its skin?

No, wait, that's not reasonable. Chika only flicked the knives at the monster underhanded with barely any force to make sure they hit the monster. Perhaps the force behind the thrown knives were too small to do any damage. Plus she was assuming the monster would have the same durability as a human when it obviously seemed more built than the average human. Chika couldn't rule out a knife strike with her body weight would be enough to penetrate into the monster. Besides, it wasn't like she had any other way to truly finish off the monster if it was still alive. She couldn't just make the entire kitchen explode. Not when the kitchen was next to some of the guest rooms and her sisters were still on the ground bleeding out… Crap, Chika didn't have the time to be indecisive. She might as well go for it.

Chika grabbed the kitchen knife and made her way toward the monster. "Not Chika too…" Chika heard her father sob behind her as she snaked past the metal island. There were some spots where fire was small enough to be stomped out and some spots that have no fire at all. Chika used those spots to make her way towards the monster.

When Chika got in front of the monster and the fire that engulfed it, Chika gripped the knife in both of her hands. She was going to stab the monster in its heart. Chika was going to have to let her hands and arms burn in the fire for a moment but that was nothing if it meant protecting Shima and Mito. Chika glanced up at the face of the monster. It was like it was asleep instead of dead. Chika readied the knife as close to the monster as she could without letting the fire touch her.

Chika probably believed her father more than she wanted to admit. After all, it seemed as though her father had been with this monster for a long time. It was probably the reason why her father sealed himself inside the kitchen all of this time. Well except for the invincible part. She knew the monster was killable. Why else would it be able to feel pain? However she did believe the part about the monster not being affected by the explosion.

So when Chika readied her knife, she didn't ready it to stab down. She readied the knife to protect herself. To Chika's disappointment, the monster's eyes shot open; all four of them filled with anger, determination, and resolve. The tendrils by the monster's side twitched before shooting out towards Chika.

In response to the attack, Chika dodged the two left tendrils by twisting her body sideways; and used the kitchen knife to redirect the momentum of the upper right tendril. To add to Chika's disappointment and incoming sense of urgency, the knife didn't make a single scratch to the tendril despite the blade using the force of the monster's attack to dig into its skin. If anything, it felt as if the blade was going to snap right in two.

While Chika successfully avoided getting damaged by three of the tendrils, she couldn't say the same for the incoming fourth. She had absolutely nothing to counter the fourth and it was coming in fast, right for her liver. No, wait; she could try shielding herself with her hand. No, Shit; she wasn't fast enough! She wasn't going to make it! There was no way she was going to lose here right?

Just as Chika was about to accept her failure, a small black figure the size of her abdomen materialized and caught the impending tendril. It was the black creature that suddenly appeared after the incident with the student council president! For some reason, it materialized without Chika's command and protected her! Or… at least it tried, for the tendril unhooked itself from the creature's grasp and smacked it to the side. The creature made no noise as it flew to the right and crashed into a cabinet above the oven.

Chika didn't realize that she also flew with the creature until after she crashed into the oven and coughed from the sudden impact on her side. What the fuck? Why did she also fly into the oven? Did the monster smack the creature and then smack Chika? In a matter of instance? No, there was no way the monster was that fast; let alone strong enough to do that with one tendril. Did... Chika and the creature share the same impact?

A loud roar interrupted Chika's train of thought. Chika snapped to alert as the monster redirected its attention to Chika and tensed up in preparation to pounce on Chika. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Fueled by a surge of adrenaline, Chika rolled to her stomach and jumped to her feet. She had to dodge the monster now- Chika's side sprung with an overwhelming sense of pain.

"Wha- My side..." Chika grunted as she fell to the ground. To Chika's luck, the monster had accounted for Chika to jump to her feet but failed to foresee Chika immediately collapsing from the pain in her side; causing the monster to pounce just a bit higher than where Chika actually was.

The monster crashed onto the corner of the oven as Chika shielded her face with her arms. The monster growled from it's failure to attack Chika. It was fine; it still had Chika in a vulnerable spot beneath it! The monster smashed its two right tendrils into the cabinets above for support before launching it's left tendrils at Chika's throat and liver.

In response, Chika rolled to the side; narrowly dodging the lethal thrusts with two small cuts on her arm and side. The monster sneered with malice and annoyance as it redirected its two tendrils with awkward but precise snaps, and launched them toward Chika again. Chika once again rolled over, narrowly dodging the thrusts. The cycle continued for a few more times as the monster attempted to pierce Chika with tenacious pursuit. Chika was lucky that the monster briefly paused between each thrust of its tendrils otherwise she would've been full of holes by now. She should be fine as long as she kept her senses sharp and her eyes constantly on the monster.

However! The monster was well aware of this "weakness" of theirs and already formed a plan two steps ahead of Chika. When Chika rolled and bumped her shoulder against the edge of the bottom cabinets, she knew she had fallen into the monster's trap. Shit; she has to roll away from the wall before-

The monster jumped down and landed over Chika's only available option. The monster had successfully trapped Chika! Now all it had to do was end it with two swift strikes at Chika's vitals. The monster raised its tendrils high as Chika laid there helpless. She could try to barrel roll away. No she was too slow! She could- Too late! The monster was going to strike now!

Damn, the monster didn't even look like it got hurt by the explosion and fire… There was no way in hell Chika was going to accept that the monster had more resolve than her! Chika's hand snapped to the handle of the metal drawer and slammed it open as the monster's tendrils raged downwards. The metal drawer groaned upon the impact but it had successfully blocked the strike! She got em!

No, wait; the monster was beyond annoyed. How could a frail girl survive this long against it? Why won't she just die? Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die! The monster roared as it raised all four of its tendrils and barraged against the metal drawer. The drawer groaned and wailed as it endured the barrage; its cries getting louder with each strike of a tendril.

Chika had successfully bought herself some time, but from the sound of the barrage happening above her; it wasn't much. She has to think of some way to escape this predicament she was in and devise some sort of counter attack. A tendril poked through the drawer. Ah shit, something; there has to be something. Chika looked at the legs of the monster. She could try shoving them. They looked pretty thin and frail. A good push could possibly trip the monster. It was worth a shot!

Chika reached out a hand tentatively toward the monster's left leg. Chika paused. Was it just Chika or was the monster's legs somewhat see through? Chika stared at the legs for a moment. It was hard to make out because of the monster's black color but it was definitely see through. In fact, they looked a bit corporeal. Now that Chika had the chance to observe the monster from up close, It's body was definitely somewhat corporeal. As if it were a ghost or a spirit. In a way, it reminded Chika of how the black creature was also corporeal.

Two tendrils poked through the breaking metal cabinet. Shit! Now was not the time to get curious. Although… Chika felt as if she could be guaranteed a victory is she solved the mystery of the monster. A mystery she hadn't considered until now, looking at the corporeal body of the monster; and right now, Chika was on the verge of figuring out an important detail needed to solve the said mystery.

Chika aimed her hand by one of the monster's legs and pushed with all the strength she could muster. Chika expected for her hand to connect and for the monster to not budge; however, expectations don't mend well with reality. Usually shattered expectations lead to disappointment and a detail full of dread. But! In this particular instance, this particular instance where Chika's hand actually fazed through the monster like a sword slashing mist, Chika's shattered expectations had given her hope!

So; as the metal drawer above her broke into pieces, revealing her form to the monster, Chika had ordered her helpful creature to float over to the creature and punch it! The creature silently obeyed as it floated up to the monster and sent a tiny fist crashing into its eye. The monster's punched eye twitched as it launched three tendrils toward Chika with a blood curdling screech. However, the monster didn't leave the Chika's helpful creature unpunished as it smacked it with its fourth tendril.

The creature went flying; taking Chika with it, allowing Chika to avoid the three incoming tendrils and fly through the monster's body into safety! Sure, Chika now had a bloody nose and a pounding migraine under both of her eyes, but she was able to overcome her predicament and obtain a clue to solving the mystery of the monster- No, the mystery of Yozorawa Nandemo Shitteruno!

Chika rose to her feet as quickly as she could to prepare for any attack the monster might throw at her next. Chika expected to see the monster in the air coming towards her but instead, she found the monster standing completely still at the place of its trap. Chika was wary but after a couple of seconds of nothing, Chika chanced some glances around her. To her right were bottles of spices and salt, bottles of cooking oils such as vinegar, and several cooking utensils hooked up onto cabinets. The oven was behind her.

Suddenly, an ear-popping cry filled the room; followed by a ripped metal drawer flying past chika's head and crashing into the cabinets above her. Chika snapped her attention toward the monster and tensed up in preparation to address any attack by the monster. Chika was prepared to start dodging flying drawers and objects; however; the monster was attacking, but it wasn't attacking her. Instead, it was letting out its rage on the items around it. It flailed its body as it's tendrils and arms smashed against things with no semblance of reason. It looked as if it were throwing a temper tantrum.

"So, it fails to kill me multiple times, gets frustrated, and throws a temper tantrum huh? I guess that's a key difference between you and I." Chika sneered at it. How could something like that have tormented her family for this long? If Shima or Mito could touch that thing, they probably would've ended up killing it and roasting it for dinner. Though the fact that Chika, and what she assumed was every other living thing, couldn't touch the monster was strange.

The monster could touch everything else and it has a tangible form, but when Chika takes the initiative when interacting with it; she simply goes through the monster as if it was never there. Inanimate objects such as kitchen supplies and flames can interact with it though, even if the object took the "initiative" in interacting. Hmm, maybe objects don't count as things that can take an "initiative" since they aren't alive and conscious…

A spoon smacked into Chika's arm which brought her out of her thoughts. "Right, monster still rampaging about." Chika sighed as she observed the monster wreck havoc in its corner of the kitchen. It seemed to be completely blind to her, for now. That was fine. Chika reached over to the various cooking oils on the counter next to her, grabbed two bottles, opened them, and spilled them out on the floor in front of her. It just meant Chika had the opportunity to aggravate the monster into falling for a trap of her own, payback as Chika would call it.

Chika turned her back to the monster toward the oven behind her. When Chika thought about it, didn't her helpful creature have the same intangibility property as the monster? You wasn't able to touch the creature when she poked it, her finger just went right through it. However, when Chika and You threw rocks at the creature; they connected. The creature itself was also able to interact with both Chika and You despite them not being able to touch it. It could've been a coincidence that these supernatural beings had the same intangibility property; however, Chika did not believe that. It was way too specific of a trait to just be a coincidence! The monster and the creature must be of the same species; or whatever they were. The fact that the monster was also corporeal just like the creature also helped Chika's case. This was the first clue needed to solve the mystery of Yozora wa Nandemo Shitteru no.

Chika reached for the oven, opened it, took out the metal racks inside, then shut it again. If Chika's assumption was correct; then that must mean most properties that the creature had, the monster also had. So then what special properties did Chika know that the creature had? She knew about the corporeal thing, the intangibility property, that it could phase into Chika and lie dormant, and that the creature followed all of Chika's orders. Chika has confirmed two of the four properties. The third and fourth property; however, Chika hadn't got a chance to confirm. If the third property applied to the monster; in theory, that would mean that the monster was linked to another person or animal. In which case, that person or animal had control over the monster. This meant that if Chika found that person or animal and convinced them to stop the monster, the monster would stop its attack. Chika could also simply kill the person or animal the monster was linked to, which would probably also result in the death of the monster.

Chika turned the knobs on the oven to their highest temperature settings in order to preheat the oven. Chika checked on the monster briefly. She didn't need to since she could still hear it rampaging about but she needed to the visual reassurance. There was a fifth property that Chika's helpful creature had though, and that was the fact that any damage dealt to the creature translate onto Chika and vice versa. If Chika's father locked himself into the kitchen to trap the monster with him this entire time, that meant that the monster had been released for about sixteen years. If the person or animal linked to the monster was an animal, that animal would be dead by now; meaning the monster would also be dead. That, however, wasn't the case as indicated by the monster's unrelenting energy. That would mean its a person linked to the monster. This was the second hint needed to solve the mystery of Yozora wa Nandemo Shitteru no.

Chika glanced over at the monster as it rampaged about. There was something Chika noticed throughout the duration of her fight with the monster. It was bigger than before, more bulky. Earlier it's body was semi-lanky but now, it reached football players level of bulk.

Chika had noticed it multiple times before throughout the entire confrontation. Slowly but surely, the monster growing in size and power. Chika thought that perhaps the monster was just getting more serious or was hiding some bulk beneath its fuzzy exterior, but there was no mistaking it now; the monster was growing. It was as if the monster was gaining physical power. This was the third and final hint that Chika needed to solve the mystery of Yozora wa Nandemo Shitteru no.

With all three of these hints, Chika developed a simple theory. Her theory was that the monster, just like her helpful creature, was linked to her father and drew physical strength from his negativity. The more negative her father was, the stronger the monster was. If Chika was correct, all she had to do was cheer her father up until the monster was weak enough to be killed. All Chika needed to do now was prove her theory correct.

"Uwah~! Chika~ I-I'm so glad you're still ali~ve!" Chika's father wailed as he suddenly bear hugged her legs. "I-I don't know what I would have done if I lost you~. I thought I had finally lost everything but-but… Kh! CHIKA~! AHHHHH; PLEASE DON'T DIE ON ME~! I CAN'T TAKE LOSING MY LOVED ONES ANYMORE~!" Chika's dad tightened his bear hug as he wiped his tears and snot on Chika. "I WAS UNDER COMPLETE DESPAIR~! COMPLETE, CRUSHING DESPA~IR! I-I told you~! I told you that it was pretending to be de~ad yet you ignor~ed me and almost di~ed! Please Chika~, you have to leave~! Chi-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP OLD MAN! YOU'RE DAMN ANNOYING!" Chika cut her father off. "Get off of me!" There were two reasons why Chika suspected her father of being linked to the monster. One, the monster absolutely refused to attack her father and two, her father was the only one who knew the most about the monster and how dangerous it was.

It would make the most sense for the person linked to the monster to be her father, but Chika wasn't completely sure that she was correct. After all, how has her father never found out the things Chika found out in all the sixteen years he's been holed up with the monster? How come her father couldn't control the monster or phase it inside of him? How come Chika's father didn't gain any wounds despite the monster being blown up and in fire? It could be because the monster was more durable than it looked. If that were the case, in order to confirm her theory; she had to damage the monster.

"Like I've said before, I'm going to go defeat and kill that monster. You keep saying it's invincible but that isn't the case. After all, it feels pain." Chika pried herself from her father.

Chika's father blinked in response before violently shaking his head. "Chika~! You saw it first hand didn't you~. Yozora wa Nandemo Shitteruno is invincible. Completely invincible~! Sure it may be able to feel pain and it may even be able to be hurt, but it won't matter. It's far too powerful~ and it can't be killed. You have to leave~! Trust in my metho~d, I can trap that monster~."

"I won't trust your 'method.'" Chika pointed sharply at her father. "If your 'method' worked, Shima and Mito wouldn't be on the verge of death rig- No, actually, they wouldn't have had to care for themselves and me for the past sixteen years! If your 'method' worked, then maybe Shima and Mito could've gone off to university or do what they wanted to do."

Chika's father clutched his heart. "Ch-Chika… I-I… I had no choi~ce; if there was somethi~ng I could've done I would've-"

"I'm not content with just "trapping" that monster. Unlike you, I will not let that monster go scott free, or you for that matter. Even if it's seemingly invincible, I will not give up until I find its weakness and defeat it. And that is just what I'm going to do!" Chika turned toward the oven. It should've been done preheating by now. "Yozora wa Nandemo Shitteru no has a weakness and it can be defeated!"

Chika expected to hear more opposition from her father but instead, he stared at her with a mix of sadness, bewilderment, and sentiment before speaking in a low voice, "That was something Rie would say…" Her father's eyes seemed to have gained a particular sparkle to them but her father quickly shook his head before reaching out towards Chika again. "I… I can't let you die~. I'm a worthless father and a piece of tra~sh of a human being, but I found the courage~ to go with the one thing to protect you, Mito, and Shima. I-I owe~ it to Rie- er, your mother~. Please leave. It's completely hopeless."

Chika ignored her father as she walked toward the oven. She was going to create another explosion. The stove explosion she caused earlier definitely did something to the monster. If Chika remembered correctly, the monster let out a pained shriek just as the explosion occurred; meaning something happened to the monster, even if it did ultimately come out unscathed from the explosion. It might blow out a hole in the wall and could even blow debris into the hot springs, but if it causes the monster harm, it will be worth the risks and damages.

Geez; at this rate, Chika might become a pyromaniac and blow up the entire ryokan. It would be worth it though. Just as long as she can gain the proof that the monster is linked to her father she would gladly blow up the ryokan and murder/injure dozens of people. Okay, maybe she wouldn't go that far. Hopefully.

Chika opened the oven before grabbing a bag of flour and ladle. Chika turned to face the monster. It seemed to have moved on to self-harm as it scratched at its legs furiously in an attempt to relieve stress and anger. It seemed to be foaming at the mouth and Chika swore she could see steam rising above the monster's head. If Chika could just prove that the monster was linked to her father, she could solve defeat the monster.

With determination, Chika twirled the ladle once in her hand from a little hole at the end of the stick before hurling it at the monster. The ladle missed. Chika quickly swore under her breath before reaching out to grab another cooking utensil. "Chika watch out!" Chika was only able to scrape another ladle with the tip of her middle finger before something hard smacked into Chika's shoulder and head. Chika didn't realize her legs gave out from the impact until after she landed on her wrist in an uncomfortable position.

What the hell just smacked into her? It was something big; like a small table. Chika glanced up. It wasn't to see where the monster was or to see what smacked into her. Chika was far too disorientated for that. Chika glanced up, for a second, out of a pure thoughtless state. Chika saw it. She really did see the ripped cabinet door flying at her. She could've dodged it too. However, in her pure thoughtless state, Chika watched in slow motion as the cabinet door smashed into her. The impact snapped her out of her thoughtless state as her body pumped into overdrive for the fifth time that day.

Chika stumbled back as she heard faint yells of despair from her father. Crap, she was about to fall into the oven. Chika extended her arms out and stopped her fall inches away from the inside of the oven. Hot air breathed on the nape of her neck, warning her of the metal hell creeping up on her. In front of her, was the other hell she had been fighting this entire time. Chika pushed herself up to her feet.

The monster in front of her had its hands balled into tight fists as it heaved in anger. Drool seemed to be dribbling down from what seemed to be its bottom lip. Its eyes seemed to burn with a bright red of unquenchable rage. From the looks of it, it looked like it wasn't exactly in full control. It was like when a child goes through an entire temper tantrum but then at the peak of their anger, they regain what seems to be a semblance of control; but in reality, it was actually the calm before the explosion; like they're holding in their anger for a moment to push them over the edge and explode.

"I… Chika I-" Her father spoke before being cut off by a roar from the monster. Chika's vision blurred a bit and Chika summoned her helpful creature to punch her out of it. Two cabinet doors were nothing. One angry, ugly monster was nothing. Chika braced herself to react to anything the monster was going to do. No matter what, she was getting the monster into the oven.

Two of the monster's appendages shot backward, ripped out two more cabinet doors, and threw one at Chika. Chika stepped to her left and slapped her hands against the rocketing cabinet door to the other side of her. The speed of the cabinet door, however, was too fast and the corner of the door still smacked into her upper right arm.

A sizable vibration rocked the floor as the monster used its other two appendages to propel itself into the air. It leaped toward Chika, who was busy avoiding the cabinet door. It roared as it prepared to throw the other cabinet door at Chika. By this point, Chika had noticed the monster in the air with its appendage wrapped behind it. The monster launched its arm forward, completing its throwing motion… No, wait, it wasn't going to throw the cabinet! It was too close for that! Instead of throwing, the monster waited until it was close enough to Chika to smash the cabinet door against her!

Luckily, Chika had reached out for one of the cabinet doors around her and brought it out in front of her to protect her from the attack. While the makeshift shield protected her from the brunt of the impact, it didn't protect her from the force of it. Chika's makeshift shield broke as she stumbled backward. She was heading toward the oven of hell once again. She has to catch herself again! Chika reached out her arms to stop her fall once more, however, the monster drove a tendril into her left shoulder.

"Shit!" cried out Chika as she lost her balance to catch herself. Pain surged from her left shoulder. It screamed at her as the monster shot out the rest of its tendrils toward her. Chika contorted her body to avoid as many of the tendrils as possible. One tendril drove itself into her torso, and another tendril punctured into the flour bag above the oven. Flour sprayed out onto Chika and the monster, covering them like how a person would spray bug spray onto a colony of ants. The monster launched its fourth tendril out towards Chika's face. She had no time or method to avoid it. The sensation of hot air breathing on her neck and back was starting to become too much. Shit! She can't just die here! She still had to tell Shima and Mito about her dream. She promised You to go on a morning run with her…

As the tendril rocketed toward Chika's face, her helpful creature suddenly came from the side, slapped Chika causing golden strings to protrude from its tiny fists, and created a makeshift string shield to intercept the tendril, all in one swift motion. The strings stretched out from the impact, slowly tensing up as the tendril traveled, slowing down its trajectory to a stop for a moment.

While the strings and strength of the Chika's helpful creature was enough to stop the tendril for a moment, the monster still overpowered the both of them with the input of more force. Chika, however, took the opportunity to move out of the tendril's way, despite the tendrils lodged in her shoulder and torso.

The heat on Chika's back was starting to hurt. She needed to get out of the way. It was then that Chika saw them: the flying specks of burning flour. Upon the sight of the burning specks of flour, Chika's body moved on its own. Chika didn't even have the time to process what it meant and what to do next before her body moved. All that raced in her mind was getting the monster into the oven.

The monster roared as it retracted all of its tendrils again with the intention of launching them toward Chika again, bringing Chika closer to the monster. Before it could launch the tendrils, Chika put all of her might into a forward shoulder tackle. Chika phased through the monster as more fiery specks of flour flew through the air. At the same time, Chika ordered her helpful creature to create a net of golden strings to wrap over the monster.

So, as the monster attempted to turn toward Chika in reaction to her shoulder tackle, the monster found itself restricted of mobility from the strings. As quiet pops resounded from the oven, the monster screeched as the oven exploded in front of it. Chika jumped to the floor as quickly as she could, but tiny chunks of metal and fire smacked into various parts of her body, which caused her to cry out. It was fine though, she got the monster!

Now, to see the state of her father. If the monster was injured than her father should also be injured which would prove that the monster was linked to her father. Chika glanced over to where her father was to see him… completely fine. He was not injured at all. Was the monster not linked to her father. Was her theory wrong? Or… did the monster not get injured from the explosion?

"Ah! Chika get out of there!" Her father sounded shouted. Chika didn't have to turn her head to know what danger was coming at her. Chika scrambled to her knees as she crawled away from where she was. She could feel the thump of the monster landing behind her. She could feel the heat of fire with it. Was the monster truly invincible?

"Damn it!" Chika turned to face the flaming monster as she tried to jump to her feet. However, her body screamed at her as blood spurted out of her shoulder and torso, causing her to fall back to her knees. The monster wasted no time as it lunged at Chika with its tendrils. Chika summoned her helpful creature in hopes the monster would smack it to the side, but the monster ignored her helpful creature as it launched its tendrils at all of her vital organs. Chika shut her eyes as she accepted her failure.

Chika expected lots of pain, however, she felt nothing. Was she dead? Was it an instant kill? No, wait, something was different; something was off. A weird feeling welled up inside of Chika's stomach. It was a familiar feeling. If Chika recalled, it was the same feeling Chika felt in the corridor leading to the kitchen. That feeling of stretching and distorting. Slowly, Chika opened her eyes.

Chika didn't notice anything at first. The monster was nowhere to be seen and she didn't have four tendrils impaling her. However, as Chika looked around, she noticed it. The air around her- no, the space around her stretching out. The colors of every object in the room slowly turned gray as the space around her distorted. As Chika followed the gray to where it was most prominent, she found them: the monster… and her father. The monster had an arm around her father as they walked away from her. Slowly, they walked further and further away. There was no island, table, or wall in their way as they walked... just an endless void of gray.

Chika watched them gain distance on her with increasing confusion and anxiety. Even through all the pain from the holes on Chika's shoulder and torso, she could still feel the sharp pounding from the migraine above her eye.

 **-To Be Continued→**

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 **A/N: This chapter took me forever. (Edit: Lol, apparently forever for me was like a month. The revision of this took me like a year xD). Gosh, I like forgot everything I wanted to do for this story (Edit: And I still haven't remembered). Don't worry, I remembered though. (Edit: Not anymore.) I don't think any future chapters will be as wonky as this chapter was (honestly this is a lie xD) so please forgive this mess xD. About Chika's mom being dead, I know she isn't dead in the anime but… I don't know. I think it might be a cool piece of lore :P xD. I also know her mom isn't named in the anime which is why I took the liberty of taking the given name of her voice actor (I think its Rie Takahashi) and just slapping it onto Chika's mom xD. I just realized this basically makes Chika a typical shounen anime character. I'm doing JoJo wrong with these stereotypes (even though Jonathan's mom and dad died). So yeah. How was it guys? Was the incessant Chika swearing great xD? Was the incorrect methods on making kitchenware and flour explode great xD? This fight got pretty repetitive after the first explosion and I'm pretty sure by the end, you guys can see that I just wanted to get this over with. Honestly, when I first wrote this fight, I was super hyped because I thought it was gonna be super cool but at this point, I just want to move on xD. Hopefully when this story gets to a point where Chika and Co. are experienced Stand Users, the fights will flow better. I want to die. Cya guys xD.**

 **Out of Context Quote of the Chapter:** "All that raced in her mind was getting the monster into the oven."


	4. Does the Night Sky Know Everything? P2

**A/N: Hey guys! Welcome back to the useless A/N of the chapter! Uh... I might start doing shorter chaps so... yeah xD.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Does the Night Sky Know Everything? Part 2**

In the Fall some odd years before Chika was born, was the fated meeting of two people. It was in the same old port town of Numazu. The time was 9:02 P.M. and the weather had predicted clear weather all through the night. Up in the sky, a single glowing orb of white light shone down brightly. It was the all-watching full moon that illuminated every action that occurred under it: the sliding waves, ants shifting through sand, and even the secret conversations of couples. Under the light of the all-watching moon, even the meeting of two individuals couldn't escape its gaze. The names of these two individuals were Tokio Takami and Rie Amamiya.

"Did you know that there are approximately six people in Numazu who hate living in Numazu?" Tokio Takami stared at the girl in front of him with anxiousness. Girls don't usually come up to him and talk to him randomly. It didn't help that he was mugged by the local delinquents moments earlier. "It's fine if you didn't since I don't actually know if that's actually true. I just made it up."

The girl was pretty short; short enough to be mistaken as an elementary schooler; however, Tokio knew that she was a highschooler like him due to the school uniform she was wearing. After all, it was the school uniform all the girls in his school were required to wear. Even though she was a literal real-life loli, her presence was still enough to spark Tokio's anxiousness. Hopefully, this didn't hint to a hidden lolicon side of him.

"Hey, you, uh… you okay there? You look like you just ran two marathons. I can literally see the sweat glistening off of your skin." Tokio wanted to die. He just wanted to hop into the ocean and drown. "I mean I know that you just got mugged a while ago but…"

She knew he got mugged. That's it. He needs to die now. Tokio nodded to himself before walking toward the ocean. The girl watched as he approached the ocean and promptly tossed himself into the waves. In this moment, she thought " _Yeah, I'm not getting wet to help you_." She expected him to pop out of water moments later but he stayed under the water. A minute passed before she sighed and ran into the water. Both Tokio and the girl emerged from the water moments later, Tokio frozen and shivering in the girl's arms as she dragged him out of the water.

The girl heaved Tokio away from her before she squeezed water out of her skirt. Tokio landed with an 'umph' before entering into a coughing fit. "I *cough* thought I *cough* was gonna die *cough*! Oh… Though that was the *cough* intention…"

"Yeah… No, you aren't going to die while I'm here." The girl replied with a hint of coldness. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't commit suicide in my presence, or commit it at all."

Tokio eventually got over his coughing fit as he sat up. He couldn't believe he actually just hopped into the ocean. How terribly fearsome being anxious is! "Anyway…" Tokio directed his attention toward the girl who stood over him. "Your name is… um, Tokio… Ta.. kami… right?" Tokio stared at her. Someone remembered his name? And it was a girl no less! Last time he checked, she wasn't even in his class!

"I'm gonna take your blank stare as a yes. Geez, I think I can see why you always get targeted by the local delinquents…" Oh no, Tokio was being too creepy. Keep it to a minimum, man. The situation was advantageous too since his old man asian sweat was being masked by the sea water. He can do it. He can have a somewhat normal conversation with a girl!

Tokio put on his best non-awkward smile and went into his "social mode" A.K.A unintentional total creeper mode and spoke, "Aha, yeah they always mug me and act like my "friends" while making fun of me and… yeah, uh, heh yeah I'm Tokio… Takami. I'm surprised my remember you name know." Boy, oh boy; stumbling over words is fun! Tokio should go take another dip into the ocean. Tokio jumped to his feet and he started walking toward the ocean again.

"Hell no! You are not going to take another dip in that ocean!" The girl ran in front of him and kicked him in the shin. Tokio cried out as he kneeled down and pressed his hands over his injured knee. How could this loli do such a thing? How could she even muster that much strength? He swore he heard his leg bone crack a bit. "Dude, I didn't even kick you that hard."

Nani?! She could muster even more strength than that? Tokio looked up at her with apprehension. The girl looked down at him with a judging look before she sighed, "Talking to you was probably a mistake…" The girl shivered as a cool breeze blew through. "Look, first of all, it's not that big of a deal if you're awkward. It's nothing worth killing yourself in the ocean over. And, if it's a joke, it's not really funny. Especially if you're getting other people soaked. Second, how is a big dude like you such a wimp? Someone like me kicking your shin should barely even affect you. Hell, the local delinquents should be a piece of cake to beat up for you."

"Well, then, why are you even talking to me? We don't really know each other," Tokio blurted. "Ah, I mean, like, you seem pretty annoyed and stuff so…"

"Right, I hear you know how to cook, like really, really well. You do know how to cook right?" Tokio shifted his eyes before nodding hesitantly. He opened his mouth to speak but the girl continued before he could. "Cool, so I was wondering if you could teach me how to cook. Nothing too much, maybe like how to operate cooking machines and use knives to cut things really fast and like, things like that. Maybe also teach me how to make a dish or two. Specifically, maybe, some miso soup."

"Um…" Tokio didn't know how to feel. He did know how to cook but he wasn't that good at it. Sure, he won a national cooking contest once but he just got lucky. That wasn't the biggest problem for Tokio though. The biggest problem was actually teaching somebody. A girl, no less. He had to do everything in his power to decline. Though, he had a feeling this girl wasn't going to back off if he simply said, "sorry, I don't think I can."

"Are you sure? I'm not-"

"Yeah, no. I just jumped into the ocean, got wet, and am currently freezing my ass off to save you. You're gonna teach me."

"Uh, no I don't think that's a good idea. I'm not that good at cooking. Do you know Hosuke Chu-"

"Bullshit, you won a cooking contest right? _National_ cooking contest."

"... N-No actually I've only won local cooking contests. The people who are telling you that I won a national cooking contest are just teasing me and-"

"Oh you won local cooking contests? That means you know how to cook right? Listen, I'm just asking you to teach me the basics. It can't be that hard. Plus, I consider myself a fast learner so it should really only take you a day or two right?" The girl clapped her hands together. "Please~? I'll prostrate myself and beg if you want alright?"

"Ah, nonononononono, you don't h-have to do that!" That would look way too sketchy to see a big highschool boy having a literal loli prostrating in front of him in the middle of the night. "Look, I'm not that good at teaching. I can cook but I can't really teach cause... I can't, you know, communicate well…"

"You're communicating just fine though." The girl retorted.

"That's just cause I'm super energetic from freezing. Somebody like Hosuke Chuuma could probably teach you better. I don't really know why you're so insistent on having me teach you since I'm pretty sure you find me annoying and stuff."

"Ugh, I would go ask someone like Hosuke to teach me but I can't since he's the whole reason why I'm trying to learn how to cook."

"Wait you like Hosuke? I thought he had a girlfriend-" Tokio stopped mid-sentence before nodding. "Okay, but there are other people who are also good at cooking who can teach you. Again, I don't know why you want me to teach you."

The girl put a hand up to her chin and closed her eyes. She seemed to be thinking about something. Maybe she was finally going to leave Tokio alone. After a few moments, she opened her eyes again. "Hey Tokio, do you know my name?"

Tokio paused before shamelessly shaking his head no. "I'm Rie. Just Rie, you don't need to know my family name." Tokio shifted his eyes to side before nodding slowly. He didn't know where this was going, nor did he want to know. "I'm a pretty selfish person. I always want to do what I want to do with disregard for other people. Like for example, having a socially awkward kid teach me how to cook. It doesn't help that I'm stubborn too."

Tokio pressed his lips together. Sudden personal talk was… sudden. "Yeah, I know this is kind of weird and sudden for me to talk about this all of a sudden, but hear me out. That thing about six people who hate living in Numazu may or may not be true, I don't really know. However, I can tell you that there is at least one person who does hate living in Numazu. That one person is me." Rie paused and Tokio slowly nodded his head. "I hate how boring and small this place is. It feels cramped and like nothing great will ever come from this town. People develop a set routine here and then die."

"Okay…" Tokio responded.

"Now that doesn't mean I want to live in the suburbs or Tokyo or in Europe or whatever. I think those places are all also equally boring. Sure, it's cool seeing all of the lights in Tokyo for the first day or two, or the different cultures of other countries, but then it becomes boring afterword."

"Well I mean you could probably go skydiving or-"

"I know that that wasn't a good explanation but basically, I don't know what to do. I don't know what I want to do. Everything just seems so boring. Life is boring."

"Like I said, you could probs go skydiving or-"

"I feel like there's something lacking. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's me. Maybe I have a lack of desire or something… Mmm, okay, maybe it's not that, but there is something lacking. Hey Tokio, do you know what it might be?"

Tokio had absolutely no clue what she was going on about know. She just suddenly went into overdrive, and now Tokio had to try and solve what she was saying with the dust she left behind. "Uh, I-I don't know. Sorry."

Rie stared at him before she sat down on the sand and looked up at the night sky. "... Maybe that was a little too roundabout. Tokio, you're always alone at school right? And you're always alone because you're too cowardly and weak right?"

Was she just flaming him now? She didn't have to go that far. "It's fine though. I think it's perfectly fine for you to be cowardly and weak and awkward... that's cause in the end, I think you'll always do what's best for others." Tokio wasn't so sure about that. He usually thought about himself and only himself. Not wanting to do things because he thought he was "too cool" for it in a roundabout way, or at least that's how adults put it. But wait... why is she talking like she knows Tokio? They've only talked for about fifteen minutes and this was a bit sudden for her to just start talking like that.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Rie scoffed slightly. "You got mugged by the local delinquents because they were bothering Fujisaki Jun right?"

Tokio perked up. What the hell? She knew? She even knew his name? Tokio didn't even know the name of that guy. How long has she been watching him? She was wrong though; Tokio was the entire reason that guy was getting beat up by the local delinquents. He did nothing to help him. "Um… Well that was just an accident-"

"Pfft. 'Accident.' Yeah, okay, dude; just walking up to a couple of people who were clearly having a 'moment' with some small dude and 'shifting' your weight so your bag would knock them in the face was an 'accident.' Sure~." Rie retorted with sarcasm lacing each of her words. Tokio didn't respond. "Don't say that I observed wrong too. I know you've been watching them for a while now. I've seen how your brows would crease slightly when you've seen those guys approach Jun."

"I- Jun is just a cooking friend of mine... " Tokio shifted his eyes.

"Yeah, and?"

"... I only did something because I thought they might move on to me or something… And- yeah, I thought-"

"That maybe you could just speed up the inevitable and have them move on to you or something?" Rie shrugged. "I don't know man, that logic seems pretty sketchy to me."

"L-Look- I- He- I'm not a good person okay. I'm plenty reserved. If you think flattery is gonna make me teach you how to cook or whatever for- err, with your crush then it won't. I-I mean, flattery won't make me teach you." Tokio said as firmly as he could.

Tokio didn't receive a response and he finally shifted his gaze back to Rie. Tokio hadn't realized it until then, but Rie hadn't taken her eyes off of the night sky once. "Okay, Tokio."

Tokio creased his brows together. He wanted to question whether she finally backed off or not, but his mind was swept away from the visual in front of him. He didn't know what it was about it, but Rie looked mystical. Despite how comically messy her hair was from taking a soak and drying in the wind, or how weird her facial expression was looking at the bright moon behind her; it looked so… transcendent, yet cryptic.

"Let's say you're a bad person and the night sky will know about every bad thing you've done; whether it's insulting a person, stealing a pencil... or even sacrificing others to protect yourself." Rie continued suddenly, snapping Tokio out of a trance he hadn't realized he fell into. "I think… I think no matter what you do, no matter how heinous it might be, there's a reason why you've done it."

"Um…"

"Now, I don't know about all of those ethic things about whether doing bad things is justified by good reasons or vice versa or whatever, but… I think you'll always choose the option that will ultimately protect other people, even if it hurts you and prick those same other people. You're a pretty weak person, Tokio, but I think you can be strong too. When it comes down to the critical moment, you'll be strong and do the 'best' thing. I think, in the end, you will do what's best even if it could be viewed as bad."

Tokio didn't know what was going on anymore. What was she even saying? He didn't even know how to react. Maybe this was another tactic to get him to teach her? Like some sort of confusion tactic. Even so, Tokio continued to listen.

"I think, as long as you continue being the Tokio I know... the night sky will forgive you."

"Um… A-Are you okay? You're not getting delusional from being too cold are you?" Tokio asked tentatively.

Rie looked down from the sky and then at Tokio before smiling. "Sorry." Tokio cocked his head at the smile. "Mmm, anyway~, let's meet at my place right now and you can teach me how to make a mean bowl of miso soup!"

"Huh?" Tokio let out a sound as Rie got up and grabbed onto his hand. "W-W-W-Wait, I never said I would teach you a-and, and can you…"

"Listen up Tokio Takami; I might have called you strong, but I'll have you know that I'm plenty stronger!"

Tokio and Rie would end up getting married seven years later.

* * *

Chika recognized the feeling. Chika watched with increasing urgency as her father and the monster walked deeper into the distorted space. What was going on? Why was everything around her… stretching? It was the best term Chika could come up for the phenomenon happening around her. She didn't like how the stretching felt around her. It was like her insides were being slowly pulled, and no matter how much her insides were pulled, they would never resist or stop the stretching. It wasn't painful, but it was uncomfortable. It was like the space around her was being forcibly stretched, but it wasn't actual space? Or maybe it was only the space around her and them.

If Chika remembered correctly, this was what happened in the corridor leading to the kitchen. Chika brushed it off as a trick of the mind but… to think that it actually happened, and worse, the monster was the cause of it. At least she thought it was the monster doing it. It made sense since the last time she checked, people couldn't control space like this.

"This is crazy though…" Chika mumbled under her breath. "A monster strong enough to actually influence space…" What were the consequences of this? Wouldn't the universe implode upon itself or something crazy like that? How was this even possible? A monster with outrageous strength and growing muscle mass? Sure, why not. A monster magically linked with a person? Sketchy, but why not. A monster that can make the literal fabric of space stretch apart though? Alright, this is a huge problem. Forget Shima and Mito, this is the impossible being possible. What is this? A shounen manga? Unless… she was dreaming. Or she was under the influence of something. Or she died…

Chika slapped her cheeks with both of her hands sharply. She instantly regretted that action as the gaping holes in her body screeched out in pain. Chika crumpled over. She needs to stop! This is not the time for this! Her father is being taken away into some gray hole thingy and the universe might implode upon itself if the monster keeps stretching space or whatever it was doing.

With a clench of her teeth, Chika willed herself to stand to her feet. She had to do something, and she had one idea. Her helpful little creature and the monster are the same species or lifeform right? So, that would mean her helpful little creature would also have some sort of spacetime ability right? Like, it could use it's strings to pull space together or something. Maybe, she could have her helpful little creature cancel out the stretching the monster was doing; and then using that same power, kill the monster once and for all. After all, if her helpful little creature was strong enough to influence spacetime in impossible ways; it should be possible for it to also kill the monster.

That was the plan anyway. When Chika brought herself into a kneel, she looked up. The pain seeping from her wounds were so great that she hadn't noticed that the space distortion stopped. The kitchen was back to normal with no signs of stretching or destruction. Was she just imagining things? Maybe the monster's true ability had something to do with illusions? Chika looked out with increasing confusion as the monster and her father walked toward the kitchen door. Earlier, they had been several dozens of meters away from her but now… they were only about four meters away. Just what was going on?

Chika shook her head violently. It didn't matter. She just had to get to them. "Go, Chika, go! Before it's too late!" Chika wailed as she got up onto her feet and took a stomp forward. Chika grinded her teeth together with enough force to crack them in response to the flood of pain drowning her. "This is nothing, this is nothing, this is nothing… This. Is. Nothing!" Chika took one more stomp forward.

"Huh?" Chika felt it again, the stretching sensation. Chika watched as the world around her stretched out into the monochrome gray. Her father and the monster walked on in front of her at the same pace that they've been walking for the past few minutes. It was happening again. The effect, or phenomenon, whatever it was, was happening again! A slight panic urged Chika to hurry before they got too far. Chika willed herself to take a faster step forward. This ended in her yelling out before collapsing backwards.

After she fell backwards, the stretching sensation vanished. The effect went away again! Chika sharply inhaled before bringing herself into a sitting position and slowly exhaled most of the pain away. She had to calm down. Her wounds were too severe to continue being reckless. Think, Chika, think. There was something going on with the activation of the effect. There was some sort of _pattern_. Perhaps, there was an activation range? If that was the case, that range would be a four meter radius from her father and the monster. Chika had to test the theory. There was something weird going on with the stretching effect and Chika would rather avoid activating it if possible.

Chika was roughly five meters away from her father and the monster. They were practically up to the kitchen door. Chika didn't like the idea of them escaping from the kitchen, and she especially didn't like the idea of them reaching Shima and Mito. She has to hurry! She has to find out everything she needs to know and come up with a plan as fast as possible… and in order to do that, she had to patch up her wounds. She couldn't operate properly with gaping wounds after all.

Chika looked around her, but couldn't find anything to patch herself up with. Things like bandages must've been in one of the many cabinets, but she didn't have the time to find them. Chika clicked her tongue. She didn't want to do it, but she had no choice. She had to cauterize her wounds with fire. She's only ever seen it done in movies before so she had no idea if it actually worked. Chika looked around and spotted what she was looking for: a kitchen blowtorch… behind the blazing wall of fire next to stove. Chika eternally groaned to herself.

She didn't have the time for this! Her father and the monster were almost to their goal. Shit. Shit. Shit! She had to do something! Anything! Chika's breathing increased in frequency. What was she going to do? Was this it? It's over and it wasn't even because she died. Chika grit her teeth and tried to force herself to stand. It worked for a solid two seconds before her wounds immediately reacted by screaming at her to stop. Chika didn't. She couldn't. She had to get up. She had to. She had to. She had to! She couldn't give up, even if it meant ripping her body to shreds.

Chika felt her arms buckle and her body give out for a moment. Chika held her breath as she fought to keep her balance. What was going to happen if the monster got out of the kitchen? Chika couldn't care less about her father, but Shima and Mito! They were just outside of the kitchen, dying! Bleeding out! What was Chika doing? She's been wasting all of this time and her sisters were out there on a timer. The pain was starting to get unbearable. Pain-filled tears painted her closed eyelids as she pushed herself to move.

Her sisters were never the best. They were eccentric. They were wild. They were unpredictable. Sometimes, they did things that annoyed Chika. Sometimes, they did things that scared the crap out of her. But… But they were always there. They always took care of her and took the time and effort to interact with her. Even when Chika never gave them the time of the day, they still tried and cared for her! For the longest time, Chika had never opened up to them. For the longest time, Chika had never even talked to them. For the longest time, Chika had never even _appreciated_ them!

It was funny. She was only just thinking these thoughts now. She was only thinking these thoughts as they were mere crawls away from death's door. Chika had to push, she had to! She had to let them know. She was going to let them know everything about her. About her lack of desire, about You, about school idols, about her dream to shine, about how she absolutely hates tangerines and they were mistaken about them the entire time, about how much she loves them… Down to the very last detail! She was going to tell them everything! Just… Just as long as Chika can get up and move! She can do it!

Chika screamed violently as she inched herself more and more to her knees. It was going to be fine. Chika was going to be up and running in no time. It didn't matter that she had barely moved. It didn't matter if her strength was fading. Because! Because she was going to shine and be strong and she was going to have her family with her the entire time and-

Chika's body gave out. Chika landed on her bottom with a barely audible "ah…" Chika watched through her blurry, tear-filled vision as her father and monster reached the door. It was over. The monster was going to escape. It was going to kill her sisters, and then kill others. Maybe it'll go for You next. All with her deadbeat father at it's side. Maybe it would come back and finish off Chika too. Or maybe it'll let Chika bleed out instead.

It was going to be a waterwork free-for-all. Chika couldn't hold them in anymore. Her lips quivered as despair sunk in. Chika tried, she really tried, and it ended in failure. Chika hadn't been alive and the day that she does, it ends. Everything that was leading up to this moment was for nothing. Chika cursed herself and the world. Her migraine surged strongly as the tears reached the tipping point, but she didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. It was over. Chika just wished it could've turned out better.

Before the tears could fall from her eyelids, she felt a gentle tapping on her side. It was so gentle that Chika probably wouldn't have noticed it if it wasn't right next to her stomach wound. A sting of pain sparked throughout her whole body. The tears fell then but with her vision cleared, Chika could see her helpful little creature touching her side with golden strings protruding out from the tips of its fingers; as if they were tape dispensers. Before chika could process what was happening, it started wrapping the strings around her torso wound.

It wasn't so bad at first. The strings gently laid over her wound. It was ticklish and the feel of the strings were weird. They felt fleshy and slippery. When Chika looked carefully, the strings also seemed to pulse rhythmically… almost as if it were living flesh. Before Chika could ponder about it longer, her stomach exploded with pain. Chika choked out a cry before crumpling over. The strings… They were wrapping around her wound too tight! It didn't help that the strings were _so thin_. Despite Chika's anguished cries, the helpful little creature continued to wrap the strings around her wound.

Before long, Chika's stomach wound had been wrapped up completely. The pain persisted a moment longer before it slowly faded. Chika took in several deep breaths to help her body calm down from the shock. Her helpful little creature had moved on to wrapping up her shoulder wound as Chika rolled her head back. Chika prepared herself for the incoming pain on her shoulder. It came but it wasn't as painful as the stomach pain. It came and went with a small wince from Chika.

Chika took in a deep breath before looking at her helpful little creature. It was standing idly, looking at her. Before she knew it, it floated up to her and started tapping her forehead with it's tiny hands. Each time it tapped her head, golden strings would come out of it's fingers and then detach. They clung to her head, but the force of the strings being pulled down was enough to detach them. The strings fell slowly and disintegrated before they could hit the floor.

Chika didn't feel anything, like how she couldn't even feel the tapping of her helpful little creature. Maybe there was a bit of intrigue? Her helpful little creature had helped her again. Despite how much Chika fought and ultimately fell to despair, it didn't give up on her. When Chika thought about it, the creature had been helping her since it first appeared in the president's room. Chika could feel the corners of her mouth curving up. She didn't know why but… she felt a little better. It truly was a helpful little creature.

As if in response to Chika's growing smile, the creature stopped tapping her head and swiftly pointed a finger toward the door. "You silly... " Chika spoke softly. "It's over… My father and the monster are gone now… Shima and Mito are probably dead too…" Chika's smile stopped forming as a small tinge of despair returned. "It's fine. You don't have to try so hard anymore. I appreciate it though. All of the help you've given to someone like me…"

The creature didn't look over at her and kept pointing toward the kitchen door. Chika felt an urge to yell at it. It was over so why- An audible metallic bump reached Chika's ears then. Chika's eyes widened as her brain fired off millions of signals to form a single thought. No… No it was impossible. There was no way such a strong monster couldn't… Against Chika's will, a feeling invaded her entire being. It was hope, and as Chika shifted her eyes toward the kitchen door, that hope exploded. The door was still closed… and her father and monster were still there! They were still in the kitchen! Chika watched as the monster limply bumped into the door.

Chika sharply inhaled a breath and she hopped to her feet in excitement. Chika was so excited that she almost didn't realize she had no trouble getting up. In fact, she felt no pain at all. In her confused excitement, Chika looked down toward her stomach wound and caught sight of the many strings wrapped around her torso turning from the golden yellow into her skin color… and fading into place over her wound. It was… healing her wound, and perfectly too. What was going on? Was... this the ability of the helpful little creature?

It was empowering. The strings over her wound had completely healed it and the rest had fallen off of her and disintegrated before they hit the floor. Her shoulder wound had also been completely healed, the leftover strings detaching and disintegrating. Maybe they had to be in contact with flesh to maintain form? Chika pressed down gently where her wound had been. It seemed the strings had even healed internal damage.

It was truly empowering. Chika didn't know what her helpful little creature was, or why it even existed but… without it, Chika would've been long dead in this fight, both literally and figuratively. She should do something to thank it later. Chika smiled as she looked ahead towards the monster and her father. It wasn't over! She can do it! She still had a chance! She could still find a way to defeat the monster- No, this time for sure… She was going to defeat the monster. No matter what. And heal her sisters with the strings!

Chika walked toward her father and the monster. With each step, determination and power filled her. Chika quickly crossed over the five meter radius into the four meter radius. Instantly, the stretching effect activated. The world around Chika stretched out into a myriad of gray. In that same instant, Chika watched as the monster and father stopped bumping into the door and kept walking as if nothing was there.

Chika quickly stepped out from the four meter radius and the stretching effect ended in that same instant. That confirmed it. The stretching effect had an activation range of four meters. She also learned another thing: the stretching effect was just that, a stretching effect. It "stretches" everything to "make more space" as she saw when her father and the monster were able to continue walking past the door.

Chika had another theory. During the stretching effect, if she tried to "pursue" the monster and her father, she would never reach them, would she? There was a bit of truth to it. Her father and the monster were the only ones that were _completely_ unaffected by the stretching effect, being the _origin_ of the effect. Chika, as a _pursuer_ , would be the second next thing to be _mostly_ unaffected by the effect. However, since she is still affected by the stretching, noticeably the ground, she would never reach them because of how the stretching would move her away from them at a rate faster than they could walk. Chika guessed, the stretching would get faster the closer she got to them. The idea was absurd. An ability to "stretch" out space was crazy, but then again, magical strings that can heal wounds was also pretty crazy. Chika sighed. There was only one way to find out and confirm her theory.

Chika took in a deep breath before sprinting toward her father and the monster. The stretching effect activated after her second stride. The world stretched and grayed around her as she sprinted toward them. It was exactly like Chika had hypothesized. She wasn't gaining any distance on them. In fact, it was like they were getting further and further away from her, despite the fact that they were walking and she was sprinting as fast as she could.

Chika slowed her advance as she watched her father and the monster continue walking. It was like they were zombies. Chika couldn't tell if they were in a trance or if they were just wandering about aimlessly and just so happened to walk in that particular direction. It didn't matter though. She still had the predicament of trying to catch up to them. As far as Chika knew, it was completely impossible. If they got further away, no matter how fast Chika traveled, always being out of her reach; how could she catch up to them, let alone beat them?

Chika probably would have despaired here. If there was a moment to say that everything was over, this was it. However! Chika was filled with nothing but hope! Chika had already lost it but her helpful little creature helped her regain it back. Chika chuckled briefly, her helpful little creature was shinier than she could ever hope to achieve.

Chika thought back to what You said about naming her helpful little creature. "Sunshine, huh…" Chika looked over to her helpful little creature as it floated up next to her. "I have a feeling… that you can do more than just make strings and heal wounds. I don't really know what it is but… it has something to do with 'shining' doesn't it?"

The helpful little creature stared at her in response. It was wordless but she could see it, the countless amount of thoughts and emotions within it. Chika understood. She understood everything in that moment. "You're me, aren't you? Or rather, like some sort of personification of my emotions and thoughts and dreams?" The creature continued to stare at her in response. "I wonder if you have been here the entire time, and only now you've manifested this form. Or maybe you were just born today, the same day that I let my desire to shine turn into action?"

Chika stared forward toward her father and monster, walking side by side into the neverending gray void ahead of her. "It doesn't matter I guess. All I know is that you are here, like another extension of me. Heh, I can't keep calling you 'my helpful little creature' anymore, huh?"

"I know exactly what I have to do to defeat Yozora wa Nandemo Shitteruno!" Chika's little helpful creature floated behind her and wrapped its arms around Chika's upper torso. Chika loosely wrapped her arms behind her around her helpful little creature and cocked her head to the side, completing the pose. "My name is Chika Takami! For all of my life, I have never experienced 'desire.' I thought that I would live my life as a husk of person, however doomed to wander through darkness in the 'best world.' However! I saw them! I saw those nine girls performing and _shining_ with so much brilliance that it even inspired me! I have a _dream_! I don't know how long it will take, nor do I know how thorny this path will be, but I will achieve it! I will _shine_! And this ability of mine, my helpful little creature… no, [Sunshine Story], will be my greatest asset in achieving it!"

The world reverted back to normal. The gray psychedelia disappeared as Chika exited from the ability's activation range. Chika watched her father's sunken back. Chika balled her hands into fists as an explosive emotion coursed its way through her body. Chika's father angered her. He left Shima, Mito, and her all alone after her mom had died. Chika didn't care but Shima and Mito… Chika knew exactly how much his lack of presence made them feel: the confusion, the anger, the sadness, the conflicting emotions, the heavy burden of responsibility, all of the negativity. It was that, that Chika did care about. If he had a good reason to abandon Shima and Mito, maybe it would've been understandable, but he didn't. He abandoned his family because he was too weak to handle his own demons and negativity!

Chika sucked in a sharp breath, her lungs filled up with power as her anger exploded. "Don't you dare think that running away will solve everything!" Her father stopped walking as soon as she shouted the last word. He didn't turn around or say anything. He just stood there. Even the monster stopped, completely motionless. "Who do you think you are? Huh? Leaving Shima and Mito alone like that! Having them completely alone as they run the ryokan on their own while taking care of their baby sister."

Chika's father didn't respond or react in any way. He stood motionless, with his back turned towards Chika. Chika kept going. She wasn't close to being done yet. "This… is not the 'best' thing you can do!"

Chika saw it. Chika saw her father's body twitch. "Maybe you thought that this was the 'best' thing you could've done. After all, this monster was 'invincible' right? It couldn't be defeated but for some reason it wouldn't attack you. So you thought, in order to keep that promise with mom, you would trap yourself in this stupid kitchen? What a load of shit! This monster is not invincible. I know it isn't! And if it is, it's your job to kill it anyway! It did come from you after all."

At this point, her father was shaking. He wasn't saying anything, and he still had his back turned to Chika. Chika's migraine flared but she ignored the pain. "You said you promised mom- no, Rie that you would protect us right? That you would do everything to ensure we all had happy lives right?" Her father stopped shaking then. Chika was going to deliver the final blow. "You _failed_. Shima and Mito were stuck here. They couldn't go chase their aspirations and dreams. They were the ones there for me so that I could do anything I wanted in life. Not only that, but you couldn't even protect us. Shima and Mito are practically near-death, bleeding out right this second. You thought they were dead right? You thought _I_ was dead right? And all you did was cry and run away? You failed, and Rie would be disappointed."

Chika could practically hear the stick crack. "No! You're wrong!" Her father cried out, his back still turned to Chika. "I-I-I… this was the 'best' thing I could've done."

"No, it wasn't. Clearly, this was not, otherwise Shima and Mito would have a father! Otherwise they wouldn't have to raise a child while they were still in high school and middle school! Otherwise they wouldn't have to force themselves to grow up! Otherwise, they wouldn't be on the floor bleeding out after _protecting_ me!"

"I… I…" Chika's father inhaled deeply. "You give me too much credit! Rie, I-I… I'm not a good person! I don't know! I don't know what's best! I can't even cook miso soup right!" Chika's father fell to his knees. "If the night sky knows everything, then it knows about all of the bad things I've done! It knows all about my inaction; my wrong actions; my terrible, horrible, _disgusting_ actions that I've done throughout my life! I didn't save him. I didn't help hi.! I-I… I used him as a shield to protect myself. At that time, all he did was fight back and sick them on me. And I deserved it! I deserved all of it! I'm a horrible person! I don't deserve to be on this Earth. I don't deserve to still be around others where I can harm them. And I didn't deserve to be around you! Maybe… Maybe if I wasn't around you, you wouldn't have died. And maybe then, Shima, Mito, and Chika would've led better lives elsewhere. I am irredeemable. If the night sky knew everything, it would _never_ forgive me!"

"But it can." Chika spoke softly after witnessing her father scream out to the heavens and break down into tears. Her father paused and tried to contain himself after hearing Chika. As much as Chika didn't want to admit it, she hated how much she could relate to her father's worst qualities and self-loathing. "Shima and Mito are still alive. I'm still alive. I don't know about mom but… we're still alive. You are too. You didn't make the 'best' choice but that doesn't mean you can't make it now." Chika's father got quieter as Chika spoke. "You don't always have to be like this. You don't always have to hate yourself. You can still make a change! You can still make it better! You can still make an effort! You can come back! You can still be there for Shima and Mito… and me."

"I-I-"

"It won't exactly be easy, but you can still do it. You can make amends, and get our forgiveness. And I'm sure mom- Rie would forgive you too. I'm sure the night sky will forgive you. You can still forgive yourself."

"I-I c- Can I.. really? Can I really gain forgiveness? Can I really make the 'best' decision? Even now?"

"Yes! You can! After all, _I_ could!" Chika patted her chest, and smiled gently; and for the first time, her father turned to face her, tears staining his now visible face. His eyes were a faded red color. Small wrinkles dotted his facial features and his short faded orange-red hair complimented them.

"But… I don't know where to start…" Her father spoke in a low voice.

Chika took a step toward her father, into the four meter activation radius. The stretching effect didn't occur. Chika did it. She bested the ability! Chika jogged over to her father and looked at him. At a closer look, his cheeks were sunken in a bit. He looked a bit sickly. Even so, Chika stretched out a hand. "You can start by getting out of this kitchen."

Chika's father looked into Chika's eyes. His eyes seemed to brighten a bit. He shifted his gaze down to Chika's hand before tentatively, outstretching his own. Before his hand could connect with Chika's, a loud roar raged to the side of them. Chika's eyes widened as her mind registered what it meant. "Of course, it wasn't going to be this easy." Chika summoned Sunshine Story as Chika turned her attention toward the monster.

The monster locked all four of its blood red eyes on Chika as it tensed up. It looked as if it was… smaller? It didn't look as buff as it did before, even so, it was still big enough to pounce towards Chika with enough power and speed to tackle both her and Sunshine Story back. Chika roughly bumped against one of the islands as the monster stabbed a tendril into Chika's right shoulder, another into Chika's torso, and a third into her right thigh.

"Shit!" Chika screamed as her body screamed for her to do something. Chika watched as the monster raised it's last tendril aimed toward her head. The monster launched the tendril toward Chika's head with deadly speed, even so, Sunshine Story was still able to intercept the tendril with its hands. Cuts formed on Chika's hands as she stared down the monster. The tendril in Sunshine Stories hands shook violently as it tried to wriggle free from its grip.

Of course the monster was still active. Why wouldn't it be? Chika was stupid. She should've killed it instead of going to her father. Now she was pinned and in a literal power struggle that determined if she was going to live the next few seconds or not. Chika could feel it. Sunshine Story was too weak. It's grip was starting to weaken.

Chika looked around and her eyes landed with her father's surprised and fearful gaze. "Help me!" Chika choked out. "You can do it! I know you can! You're the only one who can make the 'best' deci- AGH!" Chika screamed out as the tendrils shoved into her body started squirming and wiggling around. Blood spurted out as her skin ripped. Sunshine Story's grip weakened significantly from the action. The tendril inched its way closer to Sunshine Story's face. Chika grit her teeth as she focused all of her mental energy into maintaining Sunshine Story's grip.

The monster roared as it pushed with more force. Chika also roared as she retaliated with whatever energy she had left. Chika glanced toward her father who was still standing still. Her father shifted his eyes towards the floor. "I-I… never…" Chika's eyes widened before she cast them back toward the monster. She was going to die. Her father couldn't do it, and she was going to die. No, no; he can do it! Chika knew he could! Chika shot him another determined look and she noticed that he had walked up to them. He walked up to them!

"I… I will never run away again!" Chika's father shouted as he reached out with his arms for the monster… only to have them phase through. At this revelation, Chika's father's expression turned into despair. "Wha- No… No! I-I-I fai-"

"You didn't!" Chika exclaimed. Chika's father snapped towards Chika's bright expression with a hint of confusion. "You did anything but that! This is more than enough!" Chika sucked in a breath before commanding Sunshine Story to release the tendril. The tendril bolted its way forward toward Chika's right eyeball. Chika violently cocked her head to the left, only getting the skin of her right temple scratched.

In the next instant, Sunshine Story tapped Chika's father's arms. "Time to test out one more theory… Sunshine Story! Absorb his negativity!" Golden strings sprouted from Sunshine Story's fingertips and they pulsated wildly. Giant spheres traveled from Chika's father's arm into Sunshine Story, as if it was absorbing something.

Chika's father watched as Sunshine Story absorbed the spheres. "Huh? Wha-" Chika's father said in confusion before his eyes blanked out. Her father was motionless, as well as the monster. It had stopped squirming its tendrils. The moment of stillness lasted for a moment before life returned back into her father's eyes. Her father blinked a few times before his lips curled into a smile and tears streamed down his face. "I-I… What… What is this… happiness?" Chika's father muttered.

"That's your happiness. Just without all of the negativity." Chika responded as she slid herself out from the tendrils. Before she could finish, the monster in front of her screeched, "WAAAAR-"

" _ **KAN KAN!**_ " Before the monster could finish it's screech, two fists slammed into its face and torso, launching the monster back with incredible force. The monster slammed into the wall behind it before it crumpled over itself.

Chika staggered a bit but had Sunshine Story catch her. Chika bit her lip as a tear streamed down her face. She didn't know if it was from all of the pain exploding around her body; or if it was because of something else, specifically a certain someone's sadness, or if it was both. "This is…" Chika clutched a hand over her heart. "This sadness… This powerful despair and hate… This… So suddenly... " Chika had an idea of what was going on. Chika's theory on Sunshine Story's ability to absorb negativity was correct and a possible effect of using that ability could've been giving Chika a taste of all of that negativity. Chika had a feeling that it was only a taste though, and not the whole thing. And if that were the case… "I had an idea of how bad it was but… To think all of this negativity is just a small portion…" Chika glanced over to her father who was still smiling gently to himself. "Well… I guess it's okay now… It's cold, but empowering."

Chika had her wounds wrapped up by Sunshine Story. It was bigger now. Much bigger. It was about as tall as Chika and looked more humanoid. It's features were more defined, like those of a very fit lean athlete. It's arms were still detached from it's main body but they were larger and more muscular. The biggest difference aside from the larger zigzag mouth, floating crown, and tangerine design was the fact that it had grew legs. Though, they were also detached from the main body.

Chika understood now. Sunshine Story's main ability was its ability to absorb negative emotions and transform it into physical power. As a side effect, it transfers some of the negativity onto Chika. The strings were how Sunshine Story could absorb the negative emotions but for some reason, they could also heal wounds if placed around it; as well as be used as durable strings.

Chika sighed as she regained her footing. The pain started to vanish. Chika walked over to the monster who struggled to get up. With great effort, it slowly heaved itself up. It reminded Chika of when You first bumped into her and struggled to regain her footing with her bike. Chika never did help You to the ground with her foot did she? The monster let out a low growl as Chika approached. The monster looked incredibly frail and weak. Its tendrils were as thin as sticks and all of it's bulk had vanished. If Chika had to guess, the monster was probably drawing power from her father's negativity. The more negative her father was, the stronger it became. At some point, her father probably wanted to run away which triggered its main ability of the stretching effect.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the big, scary monster turned out to be some shriveling wimp huh? Take away its energy source, and it's true form gets revealed. A sniveling. Weak. Little. Shrimp." The monster twitched from Chika's words and tensed up. "Ah! Ah, ah, ah! I wouldn't do that if I were you." Chika warned. "To be honest, I would kill you right now for all of the torment you have caused my father and my sisters; feeding yourself with their negativity. I feel especially compelled to, actually, since any damage done to you doesn't seem to affect my father either. However, I'm in a good mood right now. I don't know if I've just been talking to an entity that can't even understand me, but you better learn how to right now. Since, you're so cute-looking and harmless right now; I'm thinking of sparing you. We can be friends. You and I."

Chika stopped in front of the monster in front of her and stared down upon it. "You can make a change too. You can make it better. You can make an effort. You can become someone better who can get stronger without making others suffer. I'll even help you. So how about it?" Chika flashed a small smile. It wasn't a gentle smile full of sincerity and kindness, it was one of sadistic satisfaction. She knew exactly how the little monster was going to answer. The little monster stared at Chika unblinking with infrequent levels of violent shivering.

After several moments, Chika walked past the little monster towards the kitchen door. "You can let me know whenever. I would love it if we could become friends though." Chika opened the kitchen door. The fresh, almost minty scent of the ryokan hallways filled Chika's nostrils. Chika slowly took in a deep breath of air.

As Chika took in the ryokan's scent, the monster wailed out in a cry so loud Chika's ears popped, " _ **ERWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!**_ " The little monster turned as swiftly as it could before it pounced toward Chika's turned back.

In instant reaction, Chika turned back around to face the little monster before summoning Sunshine Story. " _ **KANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKANKAN!**_ "

Chika and Sunshine Story screamed in unison as Sunshine Story pummeled the little monster with the force of a speeding bullet train. The little monster stood no chance as its tendrils snapped apart and painful concavities painted its body. Despite the amount of overkill Chika was dealing upon the little monster, she didn't stop until the monster was completely broken; finishing it off with one final punch towards the ceiling: " _ **MI-KAN**_!"

The monster flew upwards before disintegrating. Every piece of the monster withered away before it landed. "I guess, change would've been impossible for a monster like you." Chika said before turning toward the open kitchen door and taking in a deep, refreshing breath; releasing it, along with all of her tension, stress, and fatigue.

It was over, and Chika won.

 **-To Be Continued→**

* * *

 **A/N: Asadofijasdofijf, okay, I can't help myself. Honestly, I feel like this was one of those ideas that was actually really bad and shouldn't have been put into action. I think the story would've flowed better if I had Chika fight Dia or some random stand user. Well it's too late now and I am not willing to erase all of this work xD. Maybe this could have turned out good if I was a good writer but I'm not so yeah. I guess this can just be a case of bad early story syndrome xD. I'm just glad to be done with this part xD. Hopefully, I don't write any fights as bad as this in the future. Though I will admit: finally being able to do Chika's stand rush was satisfying xD. Anyway, thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment about anything if you want. Cya guys! xD (Tfw this ended up being the normal length too at 11k words. Sigh xD) Oh wait, I should do stand stats!**

 **Before we get to the stand stats though, I want to introduce my criteria for them. We all know stand stats are very vague and make about as much sense as King Crimson does so that's why I'm just going to make what I judge stand stats more specific.**

 **I will be judging** _ **power**_ **solely on the stand's physical power. So even if the stand could make buildings explode with explosives, if the actual stand itself can't lift heavy objects or punch with a lot of force; it will have a lower parameter grade despite being able to blow things up. If the stand can punch something and the force of the impact makes something explode, then its parameter grade will be an A or something like that.**

 **I will be judging Speed based on how much time it takes for the stand's ability to take effect. This means that even if the stand could punch really fast, if it's ability takes a minute to take effect; it will have a lower grade.**

 **Durability is based on how tough and resilient a stand is. It's very straightforward.**

 **I will be judging precision based on how accurate the ability is and how accurate do you have to be to activate it. Accuracy of the ability will depend on how clear its effects on the world are. If Bucciarati's Sticky Fingers could make perfect zippers that open and close perfectly, it would have an A in precision. If the zippers always came out wavy or would occasionally get stuck, it would probably have a C in precision. If I took Narancia's Aerosmith (who has "two" abilities), I would grade the two abilities individually then take the median. So Aerosmith's gun would probably get a D for being small and spraying bullets instead of concentrating them while his CO2 tracking would have a B for showing different ranges of carbon dioxide even if too much would block ability to track. I would then say Aerosmith's precision would be a C. Precision of how to activate it depends on complexity. Sticky Fingers only has to touch something to place a zipper. I would give this a C. Aerosmith would have an A in this category of precision because of how easy it can shoot out bullets and detect CO2. If I gave Sticky Fingers an A for accuracy in ability and a C for activation, I would give it a median score of a B for precision.**

 **Range is the same. It's based on how far a stand can be away from its user before its power diminishes. I would say a small town's worth of area and above will be an A. Attached to user would be E. 2-3 meters would be E too. At 15 meters, it would be a D. From there, every 20-40 meters would bring it up by one step. Idk this one is pretty loose for me.**

 **Potential will be judged on how much the user knows about their stand and how many uses they know for them. This one is also pretty loose for me. ACT stands will have a potential of A until they reach their final ACT.**

 **Also I'm adding + and - to the letter grades cause why not. Yay for more accuracy despite it still being pretty inaccurate xD.**

 **So yeah, having said that, here's the first stand: Sunshine Story.**

 **Stand User: Chika Takami**

 **Stand Name: [Sunshine Story]**

 **Namesake: One More Sunshine Story by Chika Takami (C.V. Inami Anju)**

 **Stand Type: Artificial Humanoid. It is speculated that Sunshine Story has sentience but it hasn't been 100% proven by the user.**

 **Stand Appearance: SS is a bit special. It's appearance changes depending on how much negativity it absorbs. At its weakest (initial), it looks like a small mouse. It has no legs and instead a short tail. Near the middle of its body are two hovering spheres that are detached from the body. SS has two small red eyes on its head which are about as large as its body. SS has no face except for the eyes. It also has a small crown floating above its head. On its torso is a small design of a tangerine slice with lines protruding from the design that form rings around its body. SS is mostly black except for the design and the lines which are a glowing orange color. As SS absorbs negativity, it will slowly grow into a humanoid about as tall as Chika. It grows facial features, legs, etc. As it grows, its tail disappears.**

 **Stand Ability:**

 **[Double Negative] - SS's ability is the ability to absorb the negative emotions of anything that feels emotions and gain physical power from them. In order to activate this ability, the stand has to physically touch a person (can not absorb from stands). SS can only absorb as long as negative emotions are strong enough to visibly show. SS's ability takes advantage of a principle that all creatures that feel emotion have: no matter what, there will always be a little bit of negativity or a little bit of positivity so that they do not get "overwhelmed." However, when SS steals a person's negativity, for five seconds, they will be overwhelmed with positivity to the point where they become "dazed." During this five second period, they are completely vulnerable. However, after five seconds, a little bit of negativity will return to them and snap them out of their positive overdrive. When they snap out of their positive overdrive, the target will feel happy, less stressed, and "serene." While SS absorbs all of the negative emotions, not all of the negativity will become physical power. Some of the negativity will transfer to the user. This can worsen the mood of the user. Because of this, there is a limit to the amount of negative emotions SS can take in. The limit depends on how much the user can endure before breaking down or having their emotions explode. When the user can not hold it all in anymore and explodes, that is when SS's power reaches a peak. SS can not change its user's negative emotions into power meaning that if the user became more negative on their own, it would lower the limit of how much negativity can be absorbed (Though, legend says, the user can actually alleviate a bit of negativity by attaching strings to them and then letting them disintegrate). When negativity is absorbed, wounds do not heal. SS can not transfer power and emotions to other people. Every time Chika falls asleep, SS's power will be reset. Golden strings appear to come out of SS every time it absorbs emotions which can be used in a variety of ways. The strings can only be maintained as long as it is connected to something living with emotions; they will disintegrate if connected to nothing. For whatever reason, the strings heal wounds. Perhaps there's something more 'life-like' about them?**

 **Stand Stats (I will only be doing the stats for SS at its introduction and SS at the end of this chapter):**

 **Initially:**

 **Power: E-**

 **Speed: A**

 **Durability: E-**

 **Precision: B-**

 **Range: A (About the entire town)**

 **Potential: A**

 **After absorbing the negative emotions of Chika's father (I would say this is a little weaker and slower than Golden Experience but still pretty fast):**

 **Power: C**

 **Speed: A**

 **Durability: C-**

 **Precision: B-**

 **Range: D- (About 9 meters)**

 **Potential: C**

 **Trivia:**

 **This was originally going to be a wearable stand.**

 **This stand was made with the song One More Sunshine Story in mind as well as Chika's character.**

 **(I might do Sunshine Story's stats again for its peak when that time comes in the story.)**

 **(All stands are going to be named and made after Aqours songs. Kind of like how Araki does it with western music.)**


	5. xD

Hey guys! Uhhhh, I'mma gonna stop writing this fanfic, so yeah. I would say it's going on "hiatus" but that would be a lie. Thanks for reading xD. Sorry, I couldn't do more. Mmmm...

Sigh, it's a little too brief for my liking. I just had a moment where I realized that I might not truly understand the styles, message, and characters in LL and JoJo. Maybe Chika isn't my waifu!? *insert dramatic emoji, whatever that would be* Idk. I just feel like I don't enjoy writing. Maybe, at one point I did, but that was only when I was oblivious to the complexities of it and when it was still a new experience to me. I think back then, I knew that my initial excitement was wearing off and that I'm not a writer by nature. I don't want to write, and I don't have any stories I want to tell; not even headcanons on existing series. I've just been trying to extend it as long as I could because this was the only thing I've devoted myself to the longest, and I guess my time trying out new things to figure out my career is starting to run short too. So yeah. Maybe if I'm super bored (or I just want to procrastinate and I have nothing better to do and don't want to think about life), I'll write some things and post it. Though I don't see that happening since I'm too addicted to gacha games xD and I'll be homeless in a year or two. Anyway, see ya guys later.


End file.
